In A Heartbeat
by Don'tForgetTheNotes
Summary: The StarKids make a stop at a gas station whilst on the Apocalyptour but quickly find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Will they make it through being taken hostage? Contains hints of Laurwalk and Breredith
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I do not own the characters. The StarKids belong to themselves, any relationships that are hinted at are purely my imagination and I am not implying that they are real._

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The two tour buses had finally caught up to each other and both pulled into the 7eleven gas station.

'All right everybody up and out.'

Joe groaned as the shout of the bus driver woke him up. He fumbled for his iPhone and checked the time. 3:30am. He sighed, the one thing he hated about the Apocalyptour was the late night stops, they really disrupted his sleeping. He pulled back the curtain to his pod as he heard movement and talking around him. He checked the coast was clear before rolling out of his bottom pod and standing up. Joe followed the others as they filed off the bus and across the forecourt to the store.

Lauren absentmindedly scanned the packaged snacks for anything that was gluten free; she finally found some crackers which seemed worth trying. She pulled them off the shelf and began reading through the ingredients.

Brian was pacing around outside the gas station's one and only toilet. He really needed to go and would have been first but Julia had tripped him as they were walking across the forecourt and had then taken great triumph in smiling at him as she closed the restroom door behind her. He lent against the wall and sighed angrily.

Meredith and Charlene who had decided to go halves on their snacks for this stop were having a very animated discussion over which flavoured water to buy. Meredith wanted strawberry whilst Charlene wanted blackcurrant.

The band seemed to be having great fun filming themselves dancing down the aisles of the store. It looked like they were doing Ellen's dance dare except they had no one to dance behind.

Brian R and Jim were also waiting for the restroom and were in a deep conversation about World of Warcraft a conversation in which Jim seemed to be doing most of the talking. Brian R tried to listen but he never understood when Jim rambled on like this.

Joey and Dylan had piled their arms high with candy and were now carrying it over to the counter. They got in line behind Jaime who was paying for her water. She raised her eyebrows as she turned around and saw all the candy.

'Do you have enough there boys?'

'It should just about get us through.'

They smiled at her and threw it all down onto the counter. Jaime rolled her eyes but smiled before walking outside. She couldn't get back on the bus yet as the driver had locked the door so she sat down on the curb and opened her water. It felt nice to be out in the fresh air. She looked over as a black van pulled onto the forecourt. The front and back doors opened and she watched in horror as five men wearing masks and carrying guns climbed out.

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_A/N: So this first chapter really sets the scene for what is to come. Please review!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I do not own the characters. The StarKids belong to themselves, any relationships that are hinted at are purely my imagination and I am not implying that they are real._

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'IF ANY OF YOU SO MUCH AS MAKE A SOUND I WILL BLOW HER HEAD OFF!'

Lauren dropped the crackers on the floor and whirled around to see a man in a dog mask stood in the doorway of the store. She almost screamed as she saw he was dragging Jaime with him and had a gun to her head. Slowly looking around at her friends she saw they had all frozen like her, too worried about Jaime's safety to do anything but stand there. They only sound in the room was Jaime's sobs.

'I do apologize for my friend.'

Four other men walked into the store. They all also had animal masks on.

'I'm Mr Wolf, and these are Mr Dog, Mr Cat, Mr Horse and Mr Rabbit and we're going to be robbing you.'

Joey was corralled with the others towards the cashier desk. Finally once they were all sat down in a line Mr Dog threw Jaime on the floor. He watched as Lauren and Julia pulled her into a hug. Poor Jaime, she looked so scared, but at least this would be over soon and they'd all make it through this if they just stayed calm.

'Put your phone in the bag.'

Joe slowly looked up at Mr Rabbit who was holding open a duffle bag in front of him. He looked down the line towards the cashier desk. Joe had ended up at the end so as he looked down to the other end her saw Mr Wolf and Mr Cat making sure the cashier emptied all the money out of the register. As he looked back down the line he saw all his friends were looking back at him.

'Come on we don't have all day.'

Mr Rabbut ruffled the bag and Joe sighed and pulled out his phone before dropping it into his bag. The others all slowly followed his suit.

'Is there a safe in the back?'

Meredith looked up at the cashier. He was in his mid-40's with thinning brown hair on his head. She felt sorry for him. What had he been thinking right before this happened? Did he have a family? His hands were shaking as he put the last of the money into the bag.

'I said is there a safe?'

'Yes, but it's time locked, it won't open until later this morning.'

Mr Wolf laughed. The laugh unnerved Meredith; there was no emotion at all. Her eyes followed his hand as he pointed to Charlene. Mr Horse pulled Charlene to her feet and pointed the gun at the side of her head. Meredith tried to control her breathing. Surely they wouldn't really hurt one of them, this was all just meant to scare them into submission.

'Now, I've heard blood stains are very hard to get out and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be responsible for this lovely young lady's death.'

Charlene kept completely still as the cold barrel of the gun dug into her head. She looked at the cashier, he looked so helpless. He stared back at her obviously trying to see if the gun men were being serious or not. She relaxed a little as she saw the cashier sigh and nod.

'I'll take you to it.'

Mr Wolf gestured for the cashier to lead the way. As they started walking he motioned for Mr Cat to follow along with Mr Horse pulling Charlene along with him.

Brian looked from Mr Dog to Mr Rabbit. There were stood a little way away too busy going through the bag of phones to pay any attention to their captives. He slowly looked at Dylan who was sat next to him, he tried to make his voice a whisper.

'We need to do something.'

'Like what?'

'Get help.'

Lauren who was on Brian's other side seemed to be able to hear their conversation as she slowly moved towards them.

'I saw a callbox outside, if we could just get to that.'

Brian and Dylan nodded in agreement. Brian watched as Lauren's face turned to a frown as she thought and then her eyes widened.

'I'll create a distraction.'

'Lauren what? No!'

But he was too late as Mr Rabbit had already noticed Lauren's raised hand.

'What?'

'I need to pee.'

Lauren tried to sound confident but her voice still shook slightly. She kept her eyes on Mr Rabbit as he slowly walked over. It took everything she had not to pull away as he knelt in front of her.

'So? Just hold it.'

She laughed sarcastically. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Julia's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. Lauren took a breath and continued knowing she couldn't stop now.

'I've been drinking water all night and as you can see I'm at least a foot shorted than you meaning I have a smaller bladder meaning I need too pee. Right now.

She glared at Mr Rabbit until he looked up at Mr Dog. They shared a glance before Mr Dog nodded. Lauren jumped to her feet before Mr Rabbit could help her up. As they walked off down the aisle she looked back over her shoulder at the group. They were all staring at her in disbelief. Her eyes lingered on Brian before looking away.

Jim watched as Lauren was led away. What was happening? Brian and Dylan seemed to be whispering to each other. He watched as Brian and Dylan turned as one to look at Mr Dog who was turned away from then. They shared a quick glance before Brian started to crawl down the line.

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_A/N: Please review_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: So I hope you've enjoyed it so far, I'm not entirely sure which direction this is going to go in yet but I'll just let it take me : )_

_Hogwarts2312: Thanks so much for reviewing! : ) And I'll see what I can do about the Joime as characters are naturally coming together in my head so it'll work!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Thank you for the review! I hope you continue to finding it interesting!_

_I do not own the characters. The StarKids belong to themselves, any relationships that are hinted at are purely my imagination and I am not implying that they are real._

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Everyone stared as Brian, trying to make as little noise as possible reached the end of the line. Meredith was panicking. What was Brian doing? He was going to get himself killed. She looked around at her friends, they were all being as still as statues hoping that Mr Dog wouldn't look round. Meredith liked Brian and she didn't know what she'd do if anything happened to him.

Charlene tried to breathe quietly as she watched the cashier put the money from the safe into the bag. Her stomach was churning; she was in danger of throwing up. She looked around the room trying to relax her mind. The back room was full of extra stock and then a small table with a TV monitor and hot drink facilities. She stopped as she saw the monitor was for the CCTV in the store. Her breath caught and she tried to hide a gasp.

On the monitor she could see her friends sitting in the line. However she was more focused on Brian who was crawling away towards the door. Her breathing stuttered this caused Mr Wolf to look over at her.

'What's wrong with you?'

She tried to keep looking at him but her eyes flitted to the TV monitor. Mr Wolf followed her gaze and instantly moved into action.

'We've got a runner!'

He ran from the room wielding his gun. Charlene tried to pull away from Mr Horse but he held her fast. She could only watch as Mr Wolf appeared on the monitor.

Julia screamed as she heard the gun shot. She looked up the line and everyone seemed fine but there was still Lauren and Charlene somewhere in the store. For a moment she panicked it was one of them. It was then that her eyes fell on Brian. He was lying on the floor in front of the door. He was unharmed; Mr Wolf who had now appeared in front of him had obviously fired to scare him.

She watched paralyzed as Mr Wolf crouched down in front of Brian.

'Trying to get help were we?'

She winced as Mr Wolf hit Brian over the head with his gun. He collapsed onto the floor and seemed unconscious. Mr Cat appeared behind him and dragged Brian down the aisle out of sight. Julia heard panicked breath behind her and reached back to squeeze Meredith's hand.

'He'll be okay.'

She hoped Meredith heard her.

Lauren opened the door of the restroom slowly, she'd heard the gun shot but for a few seconds had been too scared to open the door. She looked up at Mr Rabbit but saw he was looking past her. Turning slowly she gasped as she saw Brian lying on the floor. There was blood dripping down his face from a gash on his temple.

'You check if he's okay.'

Lauren looked over at Mr Wolf. When she didn't move he pointed the gun at her so as fast as she could she knelt down next to Brian and held his face, his eyes slowly fluttered.

'Come on Brian stay with me.'

She shook him slightly and his eyes squinted open.

'Ow.'

She smiled at him. At least he was alive. She checked the gash on his temple and sighed as she saw it wasn't that bad.

'Keep these two here, they seem to be the masterminds behind that little prank.'

Jaime pulled her legs up to her chest. She was still shaking. Where were the police? Surely they should be here by now. She looked up as Mr Wolf shouted for Mr Cat to bring Charlene and the cashier out. Once they had been sat back down Jaime relaxed a little. It was almost over. Mr Wolf, Mr Cat, Mr Dog and Mr Horse all gathered by the door. Mr Rabbit appeared in her line of sight from an aisle. She guessed Brian and Lauren were down there.

Just as Mr Wolf had his hand on the door handle was when they heard the police sirens.

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_A/N: So I guess some of you may hate me for Brian being hurt but he's okay!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Wow guys! I'm blown away people are actually reading this! Seriously I am happy dancing so much! : )_

_TearsOfaClown: I'm glad you like it! : )_

_Walker'sLampshade: Yay!_

_Rons-excited-owl: LET ME HUG YOU! Thank you SOO much! I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Yeah haha after I wrote it I thought I better say :')_

_Hogwarts2312: Yeah super Brolden can make it through anything XD_

_GottaGetBackUp: Hehe aww thank you :') and yeah I found it hard to write it._

_I do not own the characters. The StarKids belong to themselves, any relationships that are hinted at are purely my imagination and I am not implying that they are real._

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The five gun men looked at each other. Dylan's skin prickled as Mr Wolf slowly turned to look at the cashier.

'It was you wasn't it?'

Dylan pulled his legs out of the way as Mr Wolf nearly fell across towards the cashier. Dylan felt helpless as he watched him pull the cashier to his feet. The poor man was pleading with Mr Wolf but his words meant nothing to the crazed gun man.

'Misbehaving will not be tolerated.'

And in the same breath Mr Wolf shot the cashier in the stomach.

Brian heard the ear splitting scream and knew it was Meredith's. No. Not Meredith, it couldn't be Meredith. He tried to stop himself panicking as he knew he was just hearing her reaction to whatever had happened. He strained his ears to hear and could make out more screams and sobs from the group and then the shouting of the gun men.

'QUIET! UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE NEXT!'

The room slowly fell silent again. He tried standing up to go and see if everyone was all right but was pulled back by Lauren.

'Brian! They just shot someone! They won't think a second's thought to shooting you too!'

He looked into his friend's large brown eyes and as much as he wanted to go and punch that bastard in the face he knew she was right. He sighed and lent against the shelves of the aisle. Looking back down towards the door he saw their conversation had caught the attention of Mr Rabbit and he was back to pointing his gun at them.

The flashing red and blue lights of the police cars were now shinning into the store. Jaime looked down at the cashier. He was still alive but had been wounded badly. He needed a hospital right now. She moved slightly, trying to stop the shelf behind her from digging into her back. She couldn't move forwards as Meredith who had been the nearest person to the cashier had literally ended up sat on Jaime in her haste to get away. Jaime's attention turned back to the cashier as he groaned.

'This man needs to get to a hospital.'

She spoke to Mr Cat who was crouched right in front of her. All the gun men had hit the floor when the cashier had been shot. Mr Cat met her eyes and stared at her for a moment, she noticed his eyes were a light shade of green but they were cold and unwelcoming. As he turned to look at Mr Wolf she followed his gaze. Mr Wolf seemed to have heard the conversation and nodded.

'The girl's right, there's no use keeping him here when he's served his purpose…but to get him out we're going to need some insurance.'

In the next second Julia and Jaime had been hauled to their feet. Mr Cat and Mr Dog had their guns pointed at the girls' heads. Jaime looked out through the window onto the forecourt and gasped slightly. There were three police cars outside. The officers had quickly lowered their weapons once they had seen the hostages. She knew as long as the gun men had them hostage they were ultimately in control of the situation. She watched as one of the officers reached into his car and pulled out a phone and dialled a number. Another pulled out his radio and spoke into it. Everyone turned as the phone on the cashier desk began to ring. Mr Wolf marched over and answered it.

'Hello?'

Brian R shivered as Mr Wolf laughed into the receiver. He felt like he was in a dream. This was like something you saw in an action movie. It didn't happen in real life and it certainly didn't happen to people like them.

He looked to his left where he could just make out Meredith curled up on the floor, her hair had fallen across her face and she was so still. The only sign of life was her whimper. He tried reaching a hand across to her but Julia and Mr Horse were in his way.

'Well hello there Officer Marks, I'm Mr Wolf. Now I want you to listen to me very carefully, we have an injured man in here.'

Joe was listening intently to the conversation Mr Wolf was having on the phone. He wished he could see Mr Wolf's facial expression. The mask was so unnerving but it didn't hide Mr Wolf's growl.

'I don't think you understand Officer Marks, I have over twenty hostages in this building. All these peoples' lives are in your hands so either you let us bring out the injured man or I start putting bullets in their heads.'

Joe felt his stomach turn at the last few words. He wondered if Lauren was all right. He'd heard her come out of the restroom but she hadn't come back to the front of the store. Never in his life had Joe been scared he might die and it sent shivers down his spine to think he might die without telling her his true feelings. He sighed and rested his head back against the shelf.

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_A/N: Okay so I hoped you liked this chapter. I'm keeping them fairly short as I feel it makes it a little more intense (well it does in my mind XD)_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Again thank you to everyone who is reading! *feels* I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am enjoying writing it. : )_

_I'm probably going to update every other day as I am constantly working on it. Although there may be some times where I update the next day due to feels XD_

_I do not own the StarKids. The StarKids own themselves. Any relationships hinted at during the story are for the purposes of the story and I am not implying they are real._

_Rons-excited-owl: :') thank you! I hope you like the update._

_Im-just-peachy: Haha, I was originally not going to ship any of them but then that proved impossible XD_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Yay! I'm glad you like it!_

_TearsOfaClown: I'm happy you find it intense. I've been listening to tense music whilst I write to help so I'm glad it's coming across in the story : )_

_La-dee-da: Yay! :D_

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Mr Wolf turned his head to side before laughing.

'Ah well I'm glad we could come to an arrangement Officer Marks, I'll have them bring him out.'

The sound echoed through the store as Mr Wolf slammed the receiver down. It made Joey jump. He kept self-consciously pinching himself and it hurt which meant this wasn't a dream; he couldn't wake up and put it down to a nightmare. He looked up at the clock. Wow. It was already nearly 5am. 'I guess time flies when you're being taken hostage.' He thought to himself. He looked around at his friends. He slowly looked up at Jaime, her face looked almost calm but her hands were shaking. Joey's breathing stuttered as his eyes landed on their bus drivers and the merch guys. For some reason Joey felt guilty for them being there. It was the StarKid's fault they were there. No. He shouldn't think like that. Never in a million years would you think there would be a risk of being taken hostage whilst touring the country with a concert tour. Joey came back to reality as he heard movement.

It appeared Mr Wolf had chosen Joe and Dylan to carry the cashier out. Joey watched as they gathered around him and slowly tried to lift him up without causing the man any pain. Although he still cried out. Finally they lifted him off the floor and began to move towards the door. Mr Dog and Mr Rabbit followed close behind, it was a slow process but finally they reached the door and Joey watched them leave.

Joe looked up as they walked out of the door. There were a lot more than just the three police cars now. He looked up to the sky as a helicopter flew over. The sky was beginning to lighten as dawn was fast approaching. In the distance he could see a police barrier had been set up and people were already gathering at it. There were even news crews. As they carried the cashier he and Dylan were closely flanked by Mr Rabbit and Mr Dog. Joe felt the barrel of a gun brush his arm more than once. Half way across the forecourt stood two ET's waiting with a gurney along with a man in a bullet proof vest. Dylan and Joe placed the man onto the gurney and then Joe watched as the ET's quickly wheeled him away. At least he was safe now.

Joe eyes slowly came up to meet the man's eyes as he coughed. For the first time Joe noticed what was on the man's vest 'Police Negotiator.' For a few moments there was silence between the group.

'Is anyone else injured?'

Dylan looked to his side slightly as if waiting for the gun men to speak but he quickly realised the question had been directed to them. He took a breath as he thought about his friends. Only Brian had been hurt so far and Dylan didn't think his injury was that serious.

'Just a few cuts and bruises.'

The man nodded, there was movement behind him and Dylan noticed the armoured trucks of FBI SWAT teams. Some of the officers caught his eye as they looked on at the situation before them.

'How many hostages are there?'

Dylan thought through the people. There was the nine of them who were actually singing and dancing on the tour, then the band, the crew, the bus drivers and the merch sellers. For the first time it struck Dylan how many people there were and after a moments silence he said.

'Twenty three.'

He watched as the man raised his eyebrows before nodding.

'Okay we're going to do the best we can to get you all out safely. Just stay safe and it'll be over before you know it.'

They turned as Jaime whimpered. Mr Cat was prodding the gun against her head and behind them Dylan could see Mr Wolf pointing at his watch. Their time was up. Joe and Dylan slowly walked back towards the store. Dylan's stomach began to churn. He couldn't go back in. He pictured himself elbowing Mr Rabbit in the stomach and making a run for it, but then his eyes landed on Jaime and Julia. If he ran it could cause Mr Cat and Mr Horse to shoot and he couldn't let that happen. So with a heavy heart he allowed himself to be pushed back through the door.

Julia felt like her heart was fluttering as eventually Joe and Dylan were sat back down and the gun men released her and Jaime. As she sat down she rubbed the side of her head before wrapping her arms around her knees. She wanted to go home, and not just to her apartment in Chicago she wanted to be at her parents' house. It scared her how many thoughts were coming into her head of things she should have said to her parents. She was thinking like she thought she was going to die without being able to talk to them. This thought almost made her break down into tears so she tried as hard as she could to push it from her mind.

She eyes fell on Mr Horse who was pacing up and down in front of her. He seemed almost as scared as they were. For the first time she noticed how much smaller than the others he was. He was skinny and the suit he wore was much too big for him. She jumped as suddenly he slammed his hands down on a shelf, causing it to snap and crash into the shelf below.

'I didn't sign up for this!'

Fear rippled through her as Mr Wolf slowly turned to look at Mr Horse.

'Something the matter Mr Horse?'

'I didn't sign up for this; you said we were robbing a gas station. You never mentioned anything about taking people hostage!'

'Well plans change, Mr Horse let me put this simply. The only reason why you have not yet been arrested or shot is because of these people sitting on the floor right here. We have to think on our feet so unless you want this to become a four man job I suggest you shut up.'

The atmosphere in the room could have been cut with a knife. Julia looked from Mr Wolf to Mr Horse. She tried to calm her breathing but she was scared. They didn't have a plan and when there was no plan there was usually violence. However eventually Mr Horse backed down and moved away. Julia sighed and closed her eyes. She found it amazing that so many people in one room could make so little noise. Although the fact she was surrounded by her friends gave her some comfort. She wasn't in this alone.

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_A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this! I'm working hard to try and keep it as tense as the last chapters but I'm a little worried it might became repetitive but hopefully what I have will be able to keep the suspense : )_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hi! So I thought I wouldn't make my 'update every other day' deadline but I did! I went busking today with my friend and we were out a lot longer than I thought so I just power typed this out XD Hope you like it!_

_TearsOfaClown: Yay! Thank you so much! And haha I will! Much love!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Aww thank you! And hmm…what part will Mr Horse play? :')_

_Camoc: I'm glad you like it! I hope you like this chapter!_

_GottaGetBackUp: Bahahaha XD that would be a plot twist :')_

_Samantha: Thank you! : )_

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Lauren looked down the aisle as Mr Dog pulled down the blinds on the door, rustling along the front of the store told her all the blinds were being pulled down. It felt like they were being bricked in. Her eyes looked up as she heard a radio news bulletin come over the tannoy system. It felt bizarre to be doing something as ordinary as listening to the radio whilst in a hostage situation. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she realised what the news reader was talking about. Them.

'And today Colorado is waking up to a large scale hostage situation currently taking place at a 7eleven gas station just outside of Denver. Police reports say there are over twenty hostages being held with a rumoured five gun men holding them. Shots have been fired and one injured hostage has already been realised and is now being treated at The University of Colorado Hospital. No attempts have yet been made to recuse the other hostages due to the high risk to civilian life a rescue attempt would cause. We'll bring you the latest on this story as it unfolds.'

Lauren stopped listening as the newsreader moved on to the next story. They had made the news. She felt a little shocked that everything they were going through had just been rounded up in a speedy news bulletin. She looked up and down the aisle. Brian was on her left and was pulling at the laces of his shoes. Lauren felt so strange, she tried blinking to get rid of the feeling but nothing worked. It felt like time was slowing down, but only slowing down for them. For everyone else in the world it was speeding up and going so incredibly fast that is was leaving this little gas station behind. Whatever happened here today the world would keep on turning, the sun would still set and for most people this day would be the same as yesterday and the same as tomorrow. It shocked Lauren as she realised just how big the world was. That newsreader was reporting about them but to her it was just another news story. Did she really care what happened to those hostages in the gas station just outside Denver?

She sniffed loudly and rested her chin on her knees. Suddenly the radio cut out as the phone started ringing. The ringing was coming out over the tennoy. She heard movement across the store and then Mr Wolf's voice.

'Hello?'

The voice of the man who was on the other end of the line rang out across the store.

'My name is James and I'll be the one you'll be speaking to from now on.

'Ahh, they have finally called in a negotiator.'

Jim felt slightly relieved as he heard the man speaking. Negotiations were starting. They could soon all be free. They were lucky none of them had been seriously injured. He'd seen hostage situations on television and they didn't often end well. However with a sinking feeling he realised he was getting ahead of himself. This whole situation was only just beginning and it would be a long time before they were all out and so many things between now and then could go wrong.

Everyone seemed remarkably calm but this was only on the surface. If he looked into their eyes he could see the fear that was swirling like deep pools just below the surface. There was a tension in the room, as if it was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Jim thought it was like the calm before a storm, or the warm up act before the main event or the build-up to the final showdown in a horror film. He came out of his thoughts as he heard James speak.

'We're going to take this nice and slow. Now is there anything we can get you?'

'Cut the crap James, my motivation is money. You want these hostages alive it's going to cost you $10,000 per hostage.'

Meredith crunched up her hands to try and stop them shaking but Mr Wolf's voice was sending shivers down her spine. How could someone be so heartless when talking about their fellow human beings? He was offering them for sale like they were pieces of meat and then what would happen if no ransom was paid? She looked up through her hair as Mr Wolf laughed, it was an over exaggerated sarcastic laugh.

'James I don't think you are in a position to tell me what to do, have you not already taken one person to hospital with serious wounds? So you better start giving ransoms or you'll be calling the county coroner to pick up the rest.'

Meredith whimpered and curled up tighter into her ball. She felt a supporting hand rubbing her shoulder but it did little to help her. She didn't want to die. Although in her panicked state memories were flashing through her mind faster and faster. Was this what it was like to have your life flash before your eyes?

'Thank you for seeing the situation from my point of view, James. You have until 7am to gather at least the first $10,000.'

'Very well.'

The receiver was slammed down and the room was once again plunged into silence. Brian R let out the breath he was holding. And so it began, Mr Wolf had put their lives into the hands of James and the rest of the police. He had hit the ball into their side of the court and now they had to hit it back. He looked at his line of friends. Many had their eyes closed but he knew they weren't asleep. Then his eyes travelled slowly up to the gun men. Mr Wolf was counting the money they had taken from the cash register. Mr Cat and Mr Dog were fiddling with their guns, Brian didn't spent too much time trying to figure out what they were doing. Mr Rabbit was to his left down by the door still keeping an eye on Lauren and the other Brian in the end aisle. Finally he looked at Mr Horse, it surprised Brian that even with his mask on it was clear just as scared Mr Horse was. He was leaning against one of the shelves and had his head in his hands. And then Brian watched as he slowly pulled his mask off.

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_A/N: Okay so that last sentence kind of wrote itself, even I didn't expect that XD but I hope I kept up the suspense!_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Okay so I don't really know how I feel about this chapter. It was quite hard to write. Anyway thank you to all of you who have read it so far!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Haha I hope you're coping with the suspense XD and thanks! I am constantly writing it and I'd feel mean if I made you wait any longer :')_

_Guest: : ) here's the update!_

_Camoc: Aww! :') well I hope you like this chapter!_

_Peaceful Sunshine: Ahh you like cliffies? Hmm…maybe they are more to come (WHO SAID THAT!) : )_

_Guest (on chapter 5): Thank you! I'm glad you like it!_

_TearsOfaClown: Argh! Haha I still can't believe I'm making people have such a reaction XD and awww! *hugs!* I feel all warm and fuzzy from all the nice reviews :')_

_Sami-sam99: Aww haha well I hope this doesn't drive you too crazy :') and I'm trying to write as fast as I can whilst still keeping up the suspense haha_

_Wildwriter97: Yay! Haha and hmm just who is he?! :')_

_Dapper Dinosaur: Bahahahaha! This made my day when I first read it XD_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids own themselves. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_And breathe…phew! Okay on with the story!_

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He was nothing more than a teenager. His mousy brown hair fell across his face as he kept his head in his hands. Tuffs of hair stuck up at odd angles at the back from taking off his mask. Jaime had looked over at him as she heard rustling. She noticed he was shaking and then her eyes widened as realisation came over her, he was crying. Suddenly he looked up at her. His brown eyes were shining and his face was wet with tears. Jaime felt sorry for him. He had his whole life ahead of him. She wondered what had led him to this point. How did anyone arrive at a point in their life where they were robbing a gas station?

Suddenly she crashed out of her thoughts as she noticed Mr Horse scrambling towards her. Her instant reaction was fear as she saw the crazed look in his eyes. It all happened so fast and before she knew it he had grabbed hold of her arms and was shaking her. Her head snapped back as he shook her. She was vaguely away he was shouting something, it sounded like 'sorry' but before she could realise just what he was apologizing for she felt someone pulling him away from her. Jaime gasped as she saw the boys had descended on Mr Horse. She felt paralyzed as she watched Joey punch him at this point she lost sight of Mr Horse as the other boys surrounded him. Her mind was cloudy from him shaking her and the shouts and screams around her seemed to echo in around her head. She was aware the other four gun men were trying to pull the fight apart. She screamed as a gun went off.

Joe stopped dead as the sound of the shot echoed into the silence. He quickly looked around and saw none of his friends had been too badly hurt, just a few cuts. He was so surprised by the gun going off that he let his guard down and Mr Cat was easily able to pull him away and push him back down onto the floor. The others boys, taking one look at Mr Wolf's gun all quickly got back into line but Joey was fighting against Mr Dog and Mr Rabbit to reach Mr Horse. Mr Horse was trying to push himself up into a sitting position whilst trying to stem the flow of blood from his broken nose. Joe watched as Mr Horse stared up at Joey so after a moment Joe did the same. Something seemed to have snapped in Joey, he seemed to be channelling the strength of ten men to try and reach Mr Horse.

'YOU DON'T TOUCH HER! YOU DON'T TOUCH ANY OF THEM!'

Mr Dog and Mr Rabbit managed to keep a hold of him and finally forced him back into the line. Joe felt his stomach drop as Mr Wolf slowly began to walk down the line towards Joey. He eyed Mr Wolf's gun and felt his stomach churn. However he breathed a sigh of relief as the phone began to ring. Mr Wolf stopped in his tracks before turning around and walking back to answer it.

'Hello.'

Joey tried to control his breathing as he heard James' voice over the tannoy system.

'We heard a gunshot. Is everyone all right?'

'Yes everyone is just fine and dandy, we just had a little argument and a loud noise was needed to calm everybody down.'

Joey's whole body was shaking. The anger he had felt in that split second was quickly draining out of him. What had he done? He looked at Mr Horse. The poor boy had been helped to his feet and was now being slowly led towards the back room by Mr Cat. Joey felt queasy as he saw the blood splatters on the floor. He scrunched up his eyes before turning to look at Jaime, she had been looking at him but as their eyes met she quickly looked away. He had just felt so protective over her as had many of the other boys but as Joey looked back over the moment he realised that maybe Mr Horse hadn't been trying hurt her, trickles of guilt were slowly falling into his stomach. He pulled his legs up to his chest and pressed his head into his knees.

'Okay, remember Mr Wolf we want this to be resolved with as little violence as possible.'

'Yes, yes, James, now you remember you have until 7am to get me the ransom for at least one hostage.'

Dylan looked straight ahead as Mr Wolf slammed the receiver down. How could this already be happening? They were already dissolving into anarchy. It was clear to him that in a situation like this the rules of the real world no longer mattered. There couldn't be any civilised society when you were being held at gun point in such a confined space. Dylan felt like he couldn't breathe properly as it felt like the walls were slowly closing in on him. He had so easily followed his friends into that attack on Mr Horse. He finally understood what made those boys change into savages in The Lord of the Flies. It sent shivers down his spin to think how easily society crumbled when put under the slightest amount of pressure.

He looked up and down the line. All of his friends seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he was. There was a sense of hopelessness developing in the air. It was very clear that members of the group believed that even though James had said ransoms would be paid not everyone was going to make it out alive. There were so many of them that they couldn't possible get all the money together to get them out in one go, meaning some were going to have leave the others behind.

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_A/N: I hope you're all still enjoying the story! :')_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hello guys! Well seeing as I've been off school this week I have literally been living update to update XD I have homework I should be doing but ahh well I can do it today :')_

_The updates from now until a certain event which is going to happen in a few chapters time (:o) are going to be almost snap shots as I want to keep the story moving :D_

_Angel: Yay and I'm super inspired to write so you can keep expecting updates! :')_

_Guest: Bahahaha really? XD_

_Sami-sam99: Haha true :') and yay!_

_Walker'sLampshade: FEELS! XD_

_Peaceful Sunrise: I'm sorry! XD And I hate to say but there are more to come XD_

_Im-just-peachy: Aww thank you! Have you seen I'm writing an actual Laurwalk fic? And hmmm….for the Laurwalk in this story you'll just have to wait and see ;)_

_TearsOfaClown: Woo! And does someone die? Do they all make it out safe and well? WHO KNOWS! Hehehe :')_

_Immortalrmy: Thank you! And sure! Great minds think alike as I always say :') please tell me when you put it up! :D_

_Camoc: Thank you! And it is, how did you know XD_

_Guest: Yay!_

_Okay…are you all still with me? Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

**6:58am**

Silence had set in within the store. Brian looked down at Lauren. She had her arms wrapped around her legs and from the way she was staring straight ahead at the shelves opposite he knew she was in a world of her own. He rubbed his temple. The gash had stopped bleeding but it had given him a terrible headache. He came out of his daze as he heard the phone ringing.

'We have $40,000 to send in for the first ransoms.'

'I'm impressed, well I'll be happy to receive it in just a few minutes time.'

He heard the receiver slam down and then movement.

'Bring those two back to the others, this is something they need to be part of.'

Brian wondered what on earth Mr Wolf could be talking about but before he knew it Mr Rabbit was pulling them to their feet and marching them back to the front of the store. He felt a little more relaxed as they turned the corner and his friends came into view. Now he could see that they were all okay. He looked at each of them as they came closer, all of them stared back at him their eyes wide. He was sure all of them were thinking the same thing, what was Mr Wolf going to do that they all needed to witness? He waited until Brian and Lauren were sat down before speaking.

'So as you heard in about a minute's time, four of you will be going free. However I want to make this a little more fun. I'm going to let you decide between yourselves who goes free. So are you going to be selfless and vote for someone else? Or will you be selfish and nominate yourself?'

Julia felt her mouth drop open as Mr Wolf finished speaking. He was going make them choose? Make them choose between their friends? She looked around at her friends; they all seemed as shocked as she was. This couldn't be happening. She jumped as Mr Wolf slammed his hands down on the counter.

'We don't have all day! Start talking and decide!'

The group still seemed too shocked to speak to each other. Julia looked at each of them and then her eyes fell on Paul and Mike, the bus drivers. They had remained so calm through this and she really commended them for it. They deserved to go first. They had wives and kids back home. The rest of the group was still silent so Julia finally spoke up.

'I think Paul and Mike should go first, they have wives and kids they need to get back to.'

Joe nodded in agreement, Julia was right. So that was two places gone which meant they still had to pick two more.

'We should get all the girls out.'

He looked to his side as Brian muttered in his ear. He was right. This had already turned violent and he knew all the boys would rather stick it out then have the girls stay here. He looked round at the girls of the group until his eyes fell on Sarah the lighting tech and Lisa from AATC. They had to make a start somewhere.

'And I vote Sarah and Lisa to go too.'

Sarah and Lisa stared back at him in shock. Joe heard the sounds of the others muttering in agreement. It was decided then; Mike, Paul, Sarah and Lisa would be the first to go. They all turned as the phone rang, Mr Wolf picked it up.

'We're ready, officers are ready to receive the four hostages.'

Mr Wolf turned to look at the group. The four seemed unsure but after a moment they all stood up. Joe felt a little dizzy. This was the beginning of the end, some of them were leaving, however Joe suddenly felt a sinking feeling, this wasn't the beginning of the end, it was only just the beginning. He watched as the four were pushed towards the door by Mr Cat and Mr Dog. And then they were gone.

It took a few moments but then they heard it. Lauren had to strain her ears to hear but it was there. People were cheering. She wondered how many people were watching right now. There were nineteen of them now. She wondered how long it would take for them all to get out, if they got out. She knew she should be happy that some of her friends were know safe but she was getting an increasingly bad feeling that something very bad was about to happen. Lauren looked up as Mr Cat and Mr Dog came back through the door carrying four small black bags. The sound of them locking the door sounded unusually loud to her.

She rubbed her eyes before looking at her friends. Jaime's eyes were wide and staring, she hadn't seen what had happened earlier but had a feeling Jaime had been involved. Julia was picking at her nails and Lauren could see she was trying very hard to stop her hands from shaking. Lauren looked down at her own hands and found they were shaking too. She clenched and unclenched them but it didn't do anything to help. She felt so tired. It felt like a million years ago that she had been curled up asleep in her pod on the tour bus. For the first time she realised she was still in her pyjamas. Her sheep print pyjamas pants were half stuffed into her black boots from her haste to pull them on when they had left the bus. She stretched out her legs and began to pull at a loose thread on her pants.

They couldn't do anything now except wait. But wait for what, Lauren didn't know.

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_A/N: I'll see you on the next update :')_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Okay so this chapter is only really a 'filler' chapter as there is a real risk of it becoming too repetitive (well this part anyway) so I kind of put it all together :') Trust me the next chapter is going to be good. :D_

_Sami-sam99: Haha I'd say you'll do okay with this chapter :D_

_TearsOfaClown: It is! Haha and I feel really bad as I obviously know what happens as I've written it XD and again you'll have to wait and see :D and here's the update! I thought I wouldn't make it but I got it finished!_

_Hogwarts2312: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Awww! Hugs! Seriously I liked screamed when I saw you'd put that as I do actually want to be a screenplay writer and now I thinking of maybe going into TV as you can have a cliffhanger every week XD_

_Swimfis5: Thank you!_

_Take a walk of my knife: (love the name! XD) And thank you! And haha well there is more shipping stuff coming up :') and haha trust me, this story has given me a fangirl heart attack…I'm way to into it XD_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationships implied are for the sake of the story and I am not implying they are feel._

_I hope you enjoy the update!_

* * *

**7:57am**

Brian watched the clock ticking towards the hour for a few moments before looking down the line at Meredith. She was still curled up on the ground and he could see she was shaking. He decided then that he was going to get her out when the phone rang again and just as he thought this the phone rang. He listened with everyone else as the short statement was made. They were two ransoms. However just as Brian opened his mouth to say her name, he heard Dylan speak.

'I vote Megan and June.'

Brian panicked as he saw the others agreeing with him.

'What about Meredith?'

'Don't worry Bri, I'm good, let Megan and June go.'

He turned slowly as he heard Meredith speak. She was now sat up and was looking back at him. She looked scared but also determined to let Megan and June go before her. She smiled at him slightly and Brian felt himself relaxing, she was okay. Knowing this he turned to the others and nodded, the others seemed relieved and then Megan and June slowly stood up.

Meredith watched as Megan and June left the line and walked towards the door. Her eyes slowly slide to Brian. It touched her that he cared about her. She caught his eye again and they held each other's gaze. As long as she was with her friends she didn't feel scared. They were all in this together. She finally broke Brian's gaze as she saw Megan and June had reached the door. Sunlight spilled into the store as the door opened but then it was gone and with it two more of her friends.

**8:59am**

Dylan held his breath as he heard James speak. There was just one ransom this time. He turned as he heard someone sniff next to him. Charlene. She had her arms wrapped around her legs and was staring into space. He couldn't begin to understand how traumatised she was. She'd spent an awful amount of time with a gun to her head. The others were still undecided about who to choose, so he decided to step forward.

'I vote Charlene.'

The others all turned to look at him, Charlene included. He watched as the others all seemed to notice Charlene for the first time and within seconds they were all nodding and agreeing. Dylan helped her stand up but just as he was about to sit back down he felt her pull at his arms.

'Thanks.'

He nodded at her and watched as she slowly walked towards the door. Her hands were by her sides and even from a distance it was clear they were shaking. And then she was gone, another one was safe. Dylan breathed a sigh of relief, they were slowly getting there.

**9:55am**

Jaime opened her eyes as she heard the phone ringing. She didn't bother sitting up from her lying down position. There were fifteen of them left. She knew the boys were purposely voting for the girls and there were just four girls left now. Herself, Meredith, Julia and Lauren. It scared Jaime that she was starting to think of them not as friends but as the three people stood in the way of her freedom. She shook her head, no they were friends, they were all going to make it out of this and it didn't matter who got out first.

'We have the ransom for one.'

She heard the phone slam down; she blinked and after a moment sat up. There was a quiet debate going on between the boys as to who they should release. Jaime turned to look the other way and saw Meredith and Julia staring into space. They had given up taking part in the hourly debate and were now waiting, just like her. She turned back around as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The movement was being caused by Liam rocking backwards and forwards whilst pulling at his hair. No one else seemed to have noticed him so she slowly moved towards him.

'Liam? Are you okay?'

He looked up at her and laughed. Jaime heard the boys' conversation drift into nothingness as they all slowly turned to look at him. She had a terrible feeling he wasn't okay at all.

'Why can't I go? What's so special about you girls that you get to go first?'

Jaime didn't know what to say, because there wasn't anything special about them. The boys had just decided they were going to be stereotypical and 'save' the girls. She fell backwards as Liam pushed her out of the way and broke out of the line and stared back at them all.

Joe moved forward slowly towards Liam. He felt like he was acting as if Liam was some escaped bear. They didn't have time for someone to crack. This whole thing was too unstable as it was.

'Now Liam, just breathe, you know if you look back on this you'll feel bad if you went before the girls.'

'So what if he does go before us? We can look after ourselves.'

Joe slowly looked over his shoulder at Lauren. What was she doing? He held her gaze as she glared back at him. He tried to figure out what her motif was but he quickly realised there wasn't one. It was just a hopeless attack by someone who was scared.

'No Lauren!'

'Who put you in charge Joe?'

Joe sighed angrily and pulled a hand though his hair as Meredith joined in. Why were they all ganging up against them? Did they not want to get out? Liam was still rocking back and forth so he tried to comfort him whilst having Lauren and Meredith shouting at him. They were descending into chaos again.

'Brian just pick one of them!'

He finally managed to grab a hold of Liam's shoulders and stopped him from rocking. He held him until Liam finally looked at him.'

'We have to keep calm.'

He smiled as Liam nodded at him. Joe looked around as he saw Brian pushing Julia to her feet. He knew Brian had picked her because other than Lauren, Julia was the closest girl to him. Joe felt angry for a second that he hadn't picked Lauren but then again Lauren was already looking for trouble and this was reaffirmed as his eyes met hers and she glared at him.

Julia pulled at her jumper nervously as she slowly stepped out of the line. This was it. She was getting out. She looked up as Mr Cat joined her at her side and then turned as he began to push her towards the door. Julia looked down at her friends as she past them; they all stared back at her and gave her confident nods. Finally she reached the end of the line and looked up towards the door. It seemed to take a decade put finally they reached the door and she watched as Mr Cat unlocked it. And then he pulled it open.

Julia squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the light change. It was so bright outside. As Mr Cat pushed her across the forecourt she gulped in fresh air as if she had spent her whole life cooped up indoors. They appeared to be walking to meet two SWAT officers, Julia noticed one was holding a black bag. The price for her freedom. Mr Cat stopped her just in front of the officers. She watched as the officer but the bag down on the floor and then she stumbled forward as Mr Cat pushed her in the back. And that was it, within seconds she was surrounded by the officers and they were leading her away. She could hear people cheering and news reporters shouting questions at her but all she could think was what she was leaving behind, her friends. As she was led away she looked back over her shoulder just in time to see the store door closing.

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_A/N: Okay if you thought this chapter was a little boring compared to the others trust me it's going to pick up again XD_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hi guys! Thank you so much to everyone who read the last chapter! I hope you like this one!_

_Take a walk of my knife: Aww! Thank you! :')_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Yay! And thank you! And read this chapter and you'll see :')_

_Camoc: Woo! Hahah and hehe I also didn't know where else to put it and same! Haha_

_Immortalrmy: Aww thanks haha, yeah I am really trying to make their reactions and emotions as real as possible._

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Yay! Haha I was worried but glad you liked it!_

_Sami-sam99: Thank you! And here it is!_

_Hogwarts2312: Thank you! And I hope you like this one!_

_TearsOfaClown: Yeah haha :') thanks! And there's a bit in this but there isn't like any full Laurwalk. Thank you!_

_Im-just-peachy: Woo! Haha :')_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves, any relationships hinted are for the sake of the story and I am not implying they are real._

* * *

10:30am

Meredith looked up as she saw Mr Cat move to turn on the radio, for a few moments there was music playing but then it cut out and the newsreader from earlier began to speak.

'We interrupt regular broadcasting to bring you an update on the on-going hostage situation in Denver, Colorado.'

What? They were now headline news? That fact the normal running had been interrupted just to tell people about them shocked her. However she didn't think anymore as the woman carried on speaking.

'Since the first hostages were released at 7am, 8 of the 23 hostages are now free. Police sources say these 8 are unharmed but have been taken to hospital for medical examinations. The hostages have been formally identified as members of an internet sensation theatre group named Team StarKid. The group had been travelling into Denver to perform a show on their second national tour when they were caught up in what police are calling a robbery gone wrong. The hostage takers have demanded a ransom for each hostage and the police have been blown away by the response from around the world to help raise the funds needed. They are even receiving help from celebrities, star of the hit Fox show Glee and very good friend of the members of Team StarKid, Darren Criss has said he will do all he can to help get his friends released safely. With 15 hostages still inside police are still treating this as critical but they are hopeful it will end with any loss to civilian life.'

Meredith blinked as music began to play again. They had been identified, people knew who they were. And people were trying to get them out, people cared. She felt her heart swelling and wrapped her arms around her legs. As she looked around at her friends she saw some of them were smiling. That news bulletin had given them all hope that they were all going to make it out of this alive. She breathed a sigh of relief and lent her head back against the shelf. However that relief was short lived.

* * *

10:55am

Brian R rubbed his eyes as the call came through. For some reason he felt relaxed. It was a slow process but each time someone else got out he felt more confident. He watched as Mr Wolf put the one down. This time there was one ransom again. He barely had time to look back at the group before three names were shouted at once.

'Meredith!'

'Lauren!'

'Jaime!'

He watched as Joe, Brian and Joey all looked at each other and began bickering between themselves, they seemed to have forgotten the others were there. He looked at the girls and they were staring open mouthed at the boys, looking at the others of the group he realised, like himself they were just going to let Joe, Brian and Joey decided between themselves. However the entire group fell silent as Mr Wolf stepped forward.

'Oh I forgot to mention, I don't think you boys are playing the game properly, so I'm introducing a new rule. You can't release anymore girls.'

Joe stared as he heard Mr Wolf snigger and walk away. They couldn't release anymore girls? But there was still Meredith, Lauren and Jaime. He slowly looked at Lauren, for the first time he saw fear flash in her eyes as her eyes darted to him. He should have forced her to go earlier. The colour had completely drained out of Jaime's face and he could tell she was trying to stop her hands from shaking. There were fresh tears in Meredith's eyes.

'You can't do this!'

He looked up as Brian Holden stop up and shouted. The gun men quickly moved and pointed their guns at him but he seemed half crazed. Joe noticed people trying to force Brian to sit back down as Mr Wolf came back around the corner.

'And who says I can't?'

'I do, how do you expect us to leave knowing we left the girls here?'

'Well you're just going to have to aren't you and I'll do you a favour, so you don't have to look at them as you leave, I'll have Mr Cat and Mr Dog move them.'

Joe felt someone hold him back as Mr Cat and Mr Dog surged forward and pull the girls to their feet. All he could hear was their screams as they were dragged away. He realised it was Dylan who was holding him back and a part of him knew fighting back would make things worse but a bigger part of him wanted to stop them. He watched as Jaime tried to pull away from Mr Cat but he picked her and carried her around the corner. Mr Dog was pulling Meredith by the back of her jumper and had what looked like a painfully tight grip on Lauren's arm. It appeared that Mr Cat and Mr Dog were far stronger than Mr Horse. As they were pulled around the corner Joe stopped struggling but he was still breathing heavily. He looked around and saw others had restrained Joey and Brian too. He shivered and clasped his hands to stop them from shaking.

'Liam you go.'

He didn't look up as Dylan spoke and as Liam stood he kept his eyes on the ground. He heard the sound of the store door opening, and then silence. Finally he looked up as he felt Brian's eyes on him, they shared a look and he knew they would both stay until the end to make sure the girls stayed safe.

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Hi guys! I hope y'all had a good Halloween yesterday! I didn't get any trick or treaters :'( anyway sorry this update is a little late in the day but I've been working hard to try and make this chapter longer and I was also freaking out trying to buy the Apocalyptour DVD :') Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter! Hope you like it!_

_Dapper Dinosaur: Hehe mine did to when I wrote it :') and totally agree!_

_Take a walk of my knife: Haha aww and yeah! Hope you like this chapter :')_

_Sami-sam99: He is! Hahaha silly gun men XD_

_Camoc: Haha I do, I made all my friends watch it at my birthday XD and thanks!_

_Paula: Aww thank you! :D_

_TearsOfaClown: Heheh and I hope you find this chapter at a more suitable length! The last one I kind of rushed as I wrote it in my photography lesson XD love!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Haha yay! And aww thank you :')_

_Immortalrmy: FEELS! Hehe :') this is longer! Yay! And haha yeah that bit with Darren even I was awwing XD and you're awesome too! :D_

_Im-just-peachy: Haha XD and trust me there is still Laurwalk to come. :') AND I READ THAT FANFIC! I LOVED IT :')_

_La-dee-da: Haha XD :') THE FEELS haha XD_

_GottaGetBackUp: Yeah haha XD and aww :'( I hope you weren't too mad and sad whilst in your sock drawer. And bahahaha yeah that would be interesting, although I would probably die XD_

_Okay, first things first. This chapter is sad and contains violence! You have been warned!_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationships hinted at for purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

**11:03am**

Pain shot through Jaime's knee as she was thrown down onto the floor. She moved into a sitting position as Lauren and Meredith were thrown down next to her. Automatically she clung to her friend and they huddled together. Jaime tried not to panic but it was becoming increasingly harder not to. What did mean they couldn't release anymore girls? What would happen when there was just the three of them left? She looked back towards where the boys were the boys were but she couldn't see them. From where they were she could see into the back room, sat on a chair in the doorway and staring back at her was Mr Horse. Well he didn't have his mask on anymore so really the name was a little redundant now. There was no one else watching them. Mr Wolf and Mr Rabbit were sat further into the back room and Mr Cat and Mr Dog were keeping a watchful eye on the boys. Jaime watched as Mr Horse looked around him before slowly getting up and walking towards them.

Lauren looked up as the arm Jaime had around her tensed. Her breath caught as she saw Mr Horse was kneeling down in front of them. She couldn't make him out properly as her eyes were blurred with tears but he seemed to have come in peace. The tough girl attitude she had taken just an hour ago had now completely drained out of her. She'd been so stupid. She'd thrown away what might have been her last chance to get out, all because she'd had to talk back. As she thought of Joe's expression as Mr Wolf had spoken, her eyes closed. What must he be going through? She'd know the plan was to get all the girls out first. She was so deep in thought that when Mr Horse spoke she jumped.

'If the police do as he says, you'll make it out just fine.'

Lauren stared at Mr Horse. His nose was badly bruised and he had the beginnings of a black eye. Despite being one of the gun men his voice was soft and caring. Her eyes followed his as he turned to look back towards the back room. He seemed to be making sure the coast was clear before speaking again.

'We'll all be okay as long as we do what Uncle Tom says.'

Meredith felt her mouth fall open. Mr Horse was related to Mr Wolf? By the way Mr Horse had spoken she began to realise that maybe it hadn't been his decision to take part. He really was so young and as she looked down at his hands, she saw they were shaking more than hers were.

'I'll make sure you guys get out but I might not be so lucky.'

For the first time a thought struck Meredith. The gun men were only safe as long as they had hostages. A horrible feeling crept into Meredith's stomach, for the gun men to get out safely; they had to still have hostages. So some of them really weren't going to make it out of here. The thought hit Meredith like a rock and suddenly she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her attention turned back to Mr Horse as he slowly stood up and walked away.

Dylan looked round at his friends. There was a hopelessness lingering in the air and he felt like he was drowning in it. He shook his head to try and clear the fog that was clouding his mind. Every so often he heard a cough or sigh from someone around him. He took the moment to look at each of them. There was Dave, Tomek and Clark of the band. The three, who were normally so full of energy, were sat in silence, staring into space. Merch Matt, who normally always had something funny to say, was pulling aimlessly at his shoe laces. Dylan wondered what Corey was thinking as he watched him clean his glasses on his shirt; he had to be thinking of something as he'd been cleaning them for the past half hour. Jim and Brian R were both just staring straight ahead at the shelves in front of them and from the look in their eyes; Dylan could tell they were losing hope just like him. Finally his eyes landed on Joe, Brian H and Joey, it seemed like all three of them were taking it in turns to look at the corner the three girls had all disappeared around. He had rushed to pull back Joe when they'd pulled the girls away as he knew fighting back would have been dangerous for both Joe and the girls. Dylan had a horrible feeling that if the gun men found out any of the boys had feelings for the girls that were more than just friendship, they would be quick to use it against them.

Brian glared up at Mr Cat and Mr Dog. It sickened him that they seemed so at ease in this situation. The screams as the girls had been pulled away were still ringing in his ears. As he looked at Joe he knew he was thinking the same thing. Why hadn't they gotten them out first? Why had they chosen the other girls? Now they were stuck her, still in danger. They'd be the last three and Brian knew the gun men would probably keep some of the hostages back to ensure their safe getaway. As Brian thought this he realised that their voting had probably sealed Meredith, Jaime and Lauren's fates. Suddenly Brian felt himself crumbling at this thought and he put his head in his hands.

Joe folded his arms to try and stop them from shaking. As he sat there, escape plan after escape plan shot through his head but each one was more stupid than the last. What could they do that wouldn't cause danger to themselves? He knew they had to wait it out but that was easier said than done. However he looked up as he heard raised voices coming from the back room; he strained his ears to hear what was being said as he heard Mr Wolf and Mr Rabbit shouting.

'Tom! Can you not get it into your thick skull that this little plan of yours is never going to work.'

He wondered what on earth they could be talking about, but as they stormed into the aisle he knew he wouldn't have to wait long to know.

'Well what do you suggest we do Kevin?'

'Let them go and give ourselves up.'

Joe held his breath as Mr Wolf, or Tom as he now knew he was called, stepped towards Mr Rabbit.

'But if we let them go, they will kill us.'

'You still think you can get out of this alive? They have the whole building surrounded. They're going to kill us either way!'

Joey tried to make as little noise as possible as Mr Wolf and Mr Rabbit shouted at each other. When the hostage takers started arguing you knew everything was beginning to fall apart. The gun men hadn't been prepared for this. All they'd wanted was to rob a gas station. This had gone way too far already, he thought of the cashier and the terror that had been in his eyes as he was shot. He shot a sideways look at Brian and saw the dried blood from the gash on his head. Then he looked up as Mr Horse entered the aisle. Joey winced as he looked at the damage he had helped cause. It shocked him what little time it had taken before that had all willingly descended on their fellow human being. Being in this hostage situation had shown him a new side of himself and it both shocked and scared him.

'Mr Rabbit, I ask that you please stop shouting or I'll be forced to raise my hand.'

'Oh yeah, well what if I raise mine first?'

Joey's whole body tensed as Mr Rabbit slowly raised his gun up to Mr Wolf. An eerie silence filled the room. It remained Joe of the old western movie when the characters were in a standoff. Except Mr Wolf didn't have a gun, he was merely standing watching. As Joey turned he felt a sickening feeling as he realised why Mr Wolf was so calm for in the next second he heard the clicks of two guns as Mr Cat and Mr Dog readied them and pointed them at Mr Rabbit's back. It looked like not all of the gun men had lost their allegiance to Mr Wolf.

'I will not stand for disobedience Mr Rabbit, be it from the hostages or you.'

Brian R watched as Mr Rabbit continued to point his gun at Mr Wolf, but his hand had started to shake, more than once he chanced a look over his shoulder to look at Mr Cat and Mr Dog. Except for readying their guns they hadn't moved. Brian could hear Mr Rabbit's panicked breathing and his fear showed in his voice as he spoke.

'What will your sister say when she finds out you murdered her husband?'

This revelation took Brian's breath away. Mr Rabbit was Mr Wolf's brother-in-law. He couldn't even begin to contemplate the state that family must be in to have the need to commit armed robbery. As he thought this his attention was drawn to Mr Horse, being the only gun man whose facial expression Brian could see, he was surprised to see he seemed very distressed by the whole conversation that was going on.

'I'm sure she'll be upset but at the end of the day, we all know she's watching on the TV at home praying that her son makes it out alive.'

Lauren couldn't believe what she was hearing. Mr Rabbit was related to Mr Horse too. She looked up at Mr Horse, he had his back to them but he was trembling like a child. From their position around the corner they couldn't see the scene that was unfolding in front of the boys but it didn't sound like it was going to end well. She closed her eyes and willed her mind into a happy place.

Mr Rabbit slowly pulled off his mask and pointed his gun at the side of his own head.

'So why don't I kill myself then? Save you of the cops a job.'

Joe stared a Mr Rabbit. He looked like an older version of Mr Horse, so he guessed they were related too. Beads of sweat fell down his brow and his face was red from wearing the mask too long. His breath caught each time he breathed but Joe saw there was a determined look in his eyes.

'Do it then.'

His head whipped back around to face Mr Wolf as he spoke. His cold voice sent shivers down Joe's spine and he realised that Mr Wolf really didn't care about anyone, not even his own family. He really would see this hostage taking to the bitter end, all because whilst doing it he'd get to hold tens of thousands of dollars. Joe realised then that he probably knew the gun men weren't going to make it out alive but it's always better to go out with a bang. And what better way to be remembered than holding hostages and demanding ransoms. Joe came out of his thoughts as he saw Mr Rabbit's hand fall and he collapsed to his knees. He hadn't done it but it seemed he had crumpled under Mr Wolf's gaze.

'Give him what he wants.'

Joe covered his face with his hands as he saw Mr Cat and Mr Dog moving towards Mr Rabbit. He peeped through his fingers as he heard Mr Horse shouting and saw Mr Wolf was holding him back, there were tears in Mr Horse's eyes as he tried to pull away from Mr Wolf but he was too strong. Joe looked around and saw Mr Cat and Mr Dog were dragging Mr Rabbit towards the door. He wasn't even struggling against them; he was just staring back at Mr Horse. They reached the door and then went down the first aisle. There were a few moments of silence and then the gun shot echoed through the store. Mr Horse's screams filled Joe's ears and ripped out his heart. Mr Dog and Mr Cat slowly came back around the corner and nodded at Mr Wolf.

All Jaime could see was Mr Horse as he collapsed onto the ground and bashed his hands against the shelves. She held onto Meredith and Lauren tighter and closed her eyes. They had just killed Mr Rabbit. He was lying dead on the other side of the store. She felt her breath quickening and was in danger of having a panic attack. She didn't open her eyes as she heard the phone ring.

'Mr Wolf, we heard a gunshot.'

'You did, one of our gun men decided he couldn't go on any longer. The hostages are still safe.'

'Very well.'

A tear slowly fell down Jaime's face. She didn't know why she was crying as she hadn't known Mr Rabbit. She quickly opened her eyes as she heard movement and saw Mr Cat and Mr Dog dragging a still sobbing Mr Horse into the back room. Suddenly she realised why she crying, she was crying because it all seemed so real now. They had killed one of their own, meaning they wouldn't think twice about killing any of the StarKids. She set in for the long wait and prayed they would all eventually make it out.

And wait they did. Mr Rabbit's death seemed to have shocked everyone into silence. Every hour the phone call came in and one, two and one time even three ransoms came in and the numbers of StarKids being held hostages slowly dwindled. Finally there was less than 10 of them left and it seemed like everything was at last okay. It had been a long day. A day of waiting and fear and horrific events but it seemed that finally, they were reaching the end of this ordeal. But then something went very wrong, because in the minutes before 5pm, there was no phone call from James saying a ransom was being sent in. 5 o'clock came and went and there was total communication silence.

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_A/N: Okay, well I hope you liked it! I know it's an awful cliff hanger and the next chapter is going to be hard going._


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Woah! But you updated yesterday! I will still be updating tomorrow too but this is a short chapter as I wrote it over a week ago and I didn't really want to add any more to it as I wrote it sat on the edge of the stage at my school and the whole atmosphere added so much to it. :') so to make up for short chapters it's an early update!_

_Enna: Aww! YOU ARE BRILLIANT TOO!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Aww sorry haha hugs!_

_Sami-sam99: Hahah and thanks!_

_Im-just-peachy: Here you go! And haha I did fangirl over it XD_

_Camoc: Haha! Thanks :') and I will do!_

_Doctorpotter: Sorry! : ( I don't want to make you cry!_

_TearsOfaClown: Hahaha erm no your feels give me feels! XD and haha I felt so bad writing it, and it's a longish chapter XD_

_Okay so this chapter was probably one of the hardest to write…that's all I'm saying._

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

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There were just six of them left now, Lauren, Joe, Meredith, Brian, Jaime and Joey. Lauren thought about what she would have been doing if this had never happened. By now they would have been at the theatre probably warming up for the show, doing what they loved and yet they were here, in this living nightmare. She looked down the aisle to where Jaime was sat facing her. In the past few hours the gun men had busied themselves by organising the StarKids into a seating plan by which they could see their friends but weren't close enough to speak to each other. As Lauren looked at Jaime she saw she had her head down and was patting the split on her swollen lip. Suddenly she looked up at Lauren. Lauren smiled at her slightly and Jaime smiled back, although even from this distance Lauren knew the smile didn't reach Jaime's eyes. She knew what was worrying her. What if this was the end?

5 o'clock had come and gone and no ransom had been sent in, it was now 6:02. What were the police doing? The atmosphere in the store had been getting tenser as each minute after 5pm had ticked by and now it was almost unbearable. What if the police couldn't find any more money? They were so close to all being okay.

There was rustling to her left and she turned to see Joe trying to extend his broken leg and wincing as he did. Lauren felt sick as she thought about Joe's scream as they'd broken his leg. She let out a sigh which caused Joe to look at her.

She remembered the first time she'd looked into his eyes all the way back on the first day at U of M. She'd never seen eyes so blue before. She smiled as he raised his hand and did the 'you okay?' sign. She did it back before looking to her right.

Joe carried on looking at Lauren as she looked away. She had her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. He could see she was shaking like a leaf but she still seemed strong. As more ransoms had come in, he had insisted and staying and letting the others go first. He was fulfilling the silent vow him and Brian had made and now they were near the end. Except it had all gone wrong, the passed through hours had been hell. There was still a white hot pain ripping through his leg and it was causing Joe to see spots if he moved his leg too far.

Lauren looked at Meredith who was resting her head against the shelves and had her eyes closed but Lauren could see the tears streaming down her face. All the remaining StarKids were sporting injuries after the two hours without anyone being rescued. Meredith's tears told Lauren that her broken fingers were still causing her terrible pain. Lauren wanted to try and comfort her but was too scared her efforts would draw the attention of the gun men.

Somewhere on the other side of the store she knew Joey and Brian were there. She hoped they were okay. She hadn't seen what had happened to them, although it had sounded bad. The only person who hadn't been injured was herself. Suddenly it felt like a bucket of water had been thrown over her.

Why was she still okay? Why had they left her? A horrible feeling was creeping into her stomach and she couldn't shake the thought that something very bad was about to happen. She quickly realised she'd been feeling this feeling all along, and now she was about to find out just what that bad thing was. She looked up as she heard Mr Wolf speak.

'My patience is wearing thin James; you've missed two ransom slots.'

'I'm appealing to you Mr Wolf please wait; we are still trying to source the money.'

'Well your time wasting just cost someone very dear.'

She could hear James protesting but he was cut off by Mr Wolf slamming the receiver down, the sound echoed through the store. Everyone was holding their breath as they waited for Mr Wolf to speak. She closed her eyes tight; she didn't want to see who they picked. This was the end, everything was falling about. The police had failed them. However she didn't have to see to know.

'Get the small one.'

Her eyes flew open and were wide with terror. Oh God. What were they going to do to her? She pressed her back into the shelf as Mr Dog appeared in front of Jaime and began to walk down the aisle towards her. Her breathing quickened as he drew closer. Her eyes darted to her left as she heard Joe growl but then Mr Dog was pulling her to her feet. It felt like her heart was racing, as if it was racing towards its final beat. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as he forced her to her feet. She could hear screams from Meredith and Jaime but they seemed so far away. Lauren could almost feel her life slipping away from her and all she could do was try to hold on as it was dragged away.

She screamed and pushed against him but he easily restrained her and spun her around. This couldn't happen, she didn't want to die. There was so much she still wanted to do. There was still so much of the world she hadn't seen and there were things she still needed to tell people. She kicked at Mr Dog but he was too strong for her. He held her hands to her sides tightly but she refused to let it end like this. Lauren didn't know where the burst of strength came from but she pulled away so hard that Mr Dog lost his grip on her, and then she was falling away from him. She heard Jaime scream as she fell but everything seemed to have slowed down even more, it felt like she was free falling out of a plane. She wanted to scream but no sound would come out. Finally, after what seemed like an age, she felt the sickening crunch as the back of her head hit the sharp end of the shelf. And then everything went black.

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_A/N: I feel after this we should probably have a feelings circle. Keep Calm and Wait for Tomorrow._


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Okay, are all you guys ready? Much love to everyone who's read this so far! HUGS! And funny fact, as I was getting this chapter ready to post I watched Lauren's Glow* vlog and I started crying because of feels from this story and my mum came in and was like 'argh! What's up?' and I just said 'Lauren.' Thank goodness my mum understands my StarKid feels XD_

_THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MAJOR FEELS!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Breathe! Haha and here it is!_

_Obsessed31: I'm sorry! :'( and thanks!_

_Sami-sam99: I know! And aww thanks :')_

_Hogwarts2312: Hehehe and here it is!_

_Angel: Well I was going to wait until later in the day but I had to put it up now XD and argh! Haha_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Haha well I hope this doesn't give you a heart attack! :')_

_Immortalrmy: Sorry! And here it is! I hope you like it :D_

_1katiemariee: Hahaha well at least you don't have to wait all day XD and yay haha thank you :')_

_Im-just-peachy: I'M SORRY! Hugs and you'll have to keep reading XD_

_TheRealJackster: First, hi! Thanks for reading! And okay breathe! Hahah :') I hope you like this chapter!_

_Guest: Aww yay! And hehe thank you! :D_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

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Joe heard the dead weight thump as Lauren hit the floor. He tried to stand but pain shot through his broken leg. She'd fallen into the aisle so he could only see her black boots sticking out. He knew it was bad as Jaime was still screaming. Joe stared at her feet and willed them to move but she didn't. She was so still. She couldn't be, could she?

He watched as Mr Dog moved to crouch down next to her and then held his breath as Lauren's feet turned over as Mr Dog turned her onto her back. As he watched it surprised Joe that he started to pray. To whom he was praying he didn't know but he would have done anything if it meant Lauren was okay.

Jaime had to bite down on her hand to stop from screaming again. Replaying in her head over and over was Lauren falling and hitting the shelf. There had been such a fear in her eyes as she had fallen. However the new scream Jaime was suppressing was due to the large pool of dark blood that was quickly forming around Lauren's head.

Mr Wolf and Mr Cat were now stood in front of her staring down at Lauren. Jaime shuffled to the side slightly so she could still see. Lauren's eyes were closed and she hadn't moved at all, even when she had been turned over. Jaime couldn't even see her chest rising and falling as she breathed. The scene began to blur as her eyes filled with tears. Not Lauren. Not little Lauren. Jaime remembered the first cast meeting of A Very Potter Musical and that little brunette girl who had decided it would be perfectly normal for Draco Malfoy to roll around on the floor. But now here she was, lying in this stupid gas station because of those stupid gun men who had to rob it when they were here.

She turned as she heard someone cough. To her right sat Joey who was stilling holding his nose after a punch from one of the gun men had caused it to bleed, they had deemed it appropriate to inflict the same punishment on him that he had on Mr Horse. He held her gaze for a moment before looking at the aisle Lauren was in. It sent shivers down Jaime's spine how scared Joey looked, he was never scared. He was always there to come out with some funny statement to make them all laugh. As she looked at him Jaime couldn't bring herself to make any movement. She couldn't shake or nod her head as she didn't know. She couldn't say Lauren was dead but she couldn't say she was okay as that amount of blood was never okay. However she saw Joey's eyes start to shimmer as he saw the tears falling down her face.

'Check if she's breathing.'

Jaime turned back as Mr Wolf spoke and watched as Mr Dog knelt down and put his ear above Lauren's face. There was complete silence in the store as everyone held their breath whilst Mr Dog listened. And then eventually he looked up.

'I can just about hear her breathing.'

She was alive. Lauren was alive. Jaime wiped the tears from her eyes and craned to see as Mr Dog pressed two fingers to Lauren's neck.

'And her pulse is weak but it's there.'

Jaime breathed a sigh of relief. Lauren was clearly critical but at least she was alive. She turned to look at Brian on her left. He had his head in his hands and was shaking badly. As he pulled his head up she could see his left eye was already bruising. Slowly he turned to look at her. Jaime looked at him and could see the relief on his face. They were all okay. For now.

Meredith looked down the aisle towards Brian. She willed him to look at her and eventually he did. Their eyes met. Meredith tried to convey through them all the feelings she had for Brian but she knew he couldn't see. If only she could speak to him and tell him what she'd wanted to say ever since she'd met him.

She slowly looked to her left and her heart sank. Joe was crying. His head was in his hands and it was clear he wasn't even bothering to hide his sobs. She knew he loved Lauren. And she knew Lauren loved him. The only two people who didn't know of the other's feelings were Lauren and Joe. She knew it would break Joe's heart if Lauren died. It couldn't end like this, they had come into this together and they were all getting out together. What Meredith did next happened without thinking.

'Excuse me.'

The instant she spoke she felt Joe and Brian's eyes on her and knew they were thinking the same thing. What the hell was she doing? She herself didn't even know what she doing. He breath caught as Mr Wolf slowly appeared out of the aisle.

'What?'

Now that she had their attention she needed to think of something to do. She wanted to see if Lauren was okay. It was a long shot that they'd let her but it just might work and Meredith was past caring to worry if it failed.

'It would be bad for you when this is over if one of us died.'

Mr Wolf stared at her, she held his gaze but the mask was so unnerving. She could almost see the cogs spinning round in his head as he thought of a reply.

'So what would you suggest we do?'

'Let me and Jaime sit with her, it'll keep her calm.'

Meredith let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding as Mr Wolf slowly nodded.

'Fine, get up.'

She could tell he was tired, they all were. This had gone on way too long, something had to give and soon.

Mr Wolf stepped aside as Meredith slowly entered the aisle. She almost fainted at the sight of all the blood. She took a deep breath and knelt down at Lauren's side next Jaime. Both of them were awkwardly sat and neither made a sound until Mr Wolf and Mr Cat walked away, Mr Dog stayed positioned at the end of the aisle. Meredith stared at him for a moment before looking at Jaime. Her blue eyes were wide and staring as she gazed back at Meredith.

'Do you have a plan?'

Jaime spoke in no more than a whisper but Meredith still heard her and it made her drop her eyes. She didn't have a plan; her plan had consisted of getting them into this aisle and nothing more. How were they ever going to get out of here?

'As soon as I think of one, I'll tell you it.'

Jaime tried to think of something to say back. But there was nothing to say. It scared her that she was slowly giving up, they were breaking her down. But then something stopped the flame inside her from being blown out completely. Lauren made a sound.

She knew Meredith had heard it too as they both suddenly looked down at Lauren. It had been a small whimper from deep in her throat. Maybe she could hear them. Jaime quickly slipped her hand into Lauren's small one and tried not to think about how icy cold it was. She stared down at her, not even risking blinking in case she missed anything but Lauren didn't open her eyes, she didn't even move.

'Lolo?'

She didn't make another sound. Jaime busied herself rubbing Lauren's hand in an attempt to transfer some of her body heat to her.

'We should sing to her.'

Jaime looked up at Meredith. Sing to her? It was what they were good at. And it was one of Lauren's favourite things to do. Maybe it would help relax her a little. She tried to think about the little knowledge on comas she'd learnt from medical dramas. How long after a head injury did someone slip into a coma? But one thing she always heard was you were meant to carry on speaking to the person and what better way than to sing. Jaime slowly nodded at Meredith and knew they were thinking exactly the same song. Not Alone.

'_I've been alone, surrounded by darkness, and I've seen how heartless the world can be. And I've seen you crying, you felt like it's hopeless, but I'll always do my best to make you see.'_

Brian looked up and listened as Jaime's voice filled the room. It was only a small voice and she sounded so scared but it was like a candle in the dark. For the time today Brian felt his heart filling with hope and the feeling warmed his entire body.

'_Cause baby you're not alone, cause you're here with me and nothing's ever gonna bring us down, coz nothing can keep me from loving you and you know it's true.'_

Joe slowly lifted his head out of his hands. He smiled slightly as he remembered the first time Jaime had sung Not Alone and how much she had worked on it and made it something truly amazing.

'_It don't matter what'll come to be, our love is all we need to make it through.'_

Joey looked over to his right to where the back room was. Mr Wolf had come to stand in the doorway as Jaime had begun to sing. Even now in a situation like this Jaime's voice couldn't help but lift Joey's spirit. Mr Wolf seemed to be feeling something too for he had pulled out a chair and was now sat listening.

'_Now I know it ain't easy, but it ain't hard trying. Every time I see you smiling and I feel you so close to me.'_

Meredith closed her eyes as she listened. If she listened hard enough she was out of this hell hole and was back in the studio they had rehearsed for the Apocalyptour in. She smiled to herself as she remembered all the fun they had had and they memories she had made both in that studio and in the cities they'd already taken the concert to.

'_Tell me, cause baby you're not alone, cause you're here with me and nothing's ever gonna bring us down cause nothing can keep me from loving you, and you know it's true. It don't matter what'll come to be, our love is all we need to make it through.'_

For the first time since this awful day had begun Jaime didn't feel scared. She let the words surround her like a warm blanket on a cold night. She sang for herself and for her friends and for all the people they knew who were probably worried for them. As she closed her eyes she imagined the words floating through the room and bringing all of her friends together.

'_Well I still have trouble. I trip and stumble tryna make sense of things sometimes. I look for reasons but I don't need em.'_

Jaime eyes flew open as she felt the lightest of pressure against her hand. Lauren was squeezing her hand. She could hear her singing and knowing this spurred Jaime on and she took a deep breath before belting out the next line.

'_All I need is to look in your eyes, and I realise.' _

'_Baby you're not alone, cause you're here with me and nothing's ever gonna take us down, cause nothing can keep me from loving you and you know it's true, it don't matter what'll come to be, our love is all we need to make it through.'_

She smiled as on the last chorus Joe, Brian, Joey and Meredith all joined in and they sang together. Jaime had never felt closer to her friends than in that moment. However as she sang the last few lines panic rippled through her. Jaime had relaxed her hand slightly when she had felt Lauren squeezing it but slowly the pressure was disappearing. Lauren was slipping further into unconsciousness. They were running out of time to help her.

All the gun men were so distracted by listening to them sing that none of them were watching on the CCTV monitor the scene that was unfolding on the forecourt. And just as Jaime and the others sang the last note the gas station was plunged into darkness.

A/N: First, I'm putting it here as I didn't want to spoil the story :') I do not own the lyrics, they are property of Darren Criss.

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_I hope you're all still alive! Much love and I'll see you on Monday! :D_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: WOAH! I was blown away by all the reviews and views! I love you all here! HAVE SOME COOKIES!_

_If you left a review I replied at the end! There were just so many haha but thank you to everyone who reviewed!_

_This chapter is a bit teary sorry! And whilst I wrote it I listened to Any Other Name so search it on YouTube and listen as you read as it really fits the chapter :D_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationshiphinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

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There were large crashes and bangs as SWAT police burst through the main door and even in through the door to the back room. Beams of torchlights flashed across the ceilings and walls.

Joe threw his hands over his head as gun shots rang through the store. Whether they were from the SWAT team of the gun men he didn't know and he didn't care, all he wanted was to get out of here. He looked up as a torch light fell over him. A SWAT officer ran over and knelt next to him.

'FIRST HOSTAGE!'

Brian heard the SWAT officer bellow from somewhere across the store. He was worried about Meredith and the other girls, they were the ones who needed to be found so they could get help for Lauren. He barely had time to think anymore before he was dazzled by a torch light and closed his eyes against it as he heard.

'SECOND HOSTAGE!'

Joey was now hiding in the aisle. Having been the closest to the back room he would have been in the line of fire if he'd stayed where he was. Suddenly he felt a jolt as if someone had hit the shelves in the aisle behind him, he didn't want to think what that could mean. The sounds of gun shots were deafening and he put his hands over his ears.

'Joey!'

He looked up and saw Joe and a SWAT officer at the end of the aisle. He'd forgotten he had been down the aisle from Joe. He scrambled towards them and collapsed next to them, he breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the SWAT officer shouted.

'THIRD HOSTAGE!'

Jaime had grabbed hold of Meredith's hand as the lights had gone out. She tried to get her bearings as the sounds of shouts and now horrific screams were filling the store. She knew the SWAT team were securing the building but Lauren needed to get to hospital, she had lost so much blood. Suddenly lights fell on them from both sides of the aisle and everything seemed to go into slow motion.

Meredith heard Jaime screaming at the SWAT officers to get medical help but she seemed so far away. The SWAT team seemed too busy with calling 'last three hostages' and then pulling her and Jaime to their feet. As the lights came back on she turned to look down at Lauren. She was so pale. Meredith panicked that they were too late, they couldn't be too late. They were all safe now.

'GET THE ETs!'

There was still noise all around her but it all sounded so far away, as if she was hearing it from the opposite end of a tunnel. Meredith allowed herself to be pulled out of the aisle as a group of ETs ran into the store but her limps felt so heavy and she was in danger of losing her balance. She watched as they knelt around Lauren, one checked her neck for a pulse.

'We've got an irregular pulse, I can barely feel it.'

Meredith breathed, somehow Lauren was still alive. However as one of the ETs moved to examine Lauren's head wound, the expression on their face made Meredith's whole body tense. A look as grave as that could only mean there was something very wrong.

'The head wound's stopped bleeding.'

From the way all the ETs stopped and looked at each other she knew this must be a bad sign. She could feel her whole body shaking as she watched one check Lauren's pulse.

'She doesn't have a pulse.'

No. Meredith felt her stomach do a back flip. The ET began to give Lauren the kiss of life and then began pounding their hands on her chest to try and get her heart to re-start. Meredith heard the ET swear under his breath as he checked Lauren's pulse again. The whole scene began to blur as her eyes filled with tears. It seemed Meredith and the others had been forgotten as everyone's attention was sorely on Lauren.

'We need the defibrillator now!'

He carried on performing chest compressions. Lauren's whole body was moving with each compression but she still wasn't responding. Meredith turned as what looked like a rectangle box was brought in and placed on the floor next to Lauren.

Brian was brought over to where his friends were and looked at Lauren. Her heart had stopped. She'd made it all this way, she couldn't die, not now, not at the very end. He looked to his side as he felt a shaking hand slip into his. Meredith. She was focused intently on Lauren but there were tears streaming down her face. Without thinking he pulled her into a tight hug. He looked down at Lauren, it scared him how deathly pale she was and her lips had turned blue. The ETs seemed to be in total chaos in their attempts to try and revive her. He took a deep breath.

'Come on Lo.'

He said it more to himself than anyone else and willed her to respond to the CPR. She had to respond, they couldn't lose her.

Jaime and Joey were trying to calm down Joe. He was in hysterics. Jaime looked over to Lauren. She was trying to stay strong for Joe but she could feel the emotions boiling up inside her and she was in danger of breaking down. With all the ETs around her, Lauren looked so tiny and vulnerable and Jaime wanted nothing more than to run and hug and protect her. She tried to steady her breathing as she watched them roll up Lauren's shirt and prepare to shock her.

'Charging.'

She started rubbing Joe's back as she realised her hand was shaking. She wished she could close off her ears as the high pitched squeal of the defibrillator pads charging filled the room, it sounded so cold. She forced herself to carry on watching as the paddles were placed on Lauren's chest and side.

'Clear.'

Jaime shuddered as Lauren's body was shocked off the ground. The sound of the electricity sounded so strange and abnormally loud. The paddles were taken off her and an ET quickly began preforming chest compressions on her. There was total silence in the room as they all watched. But Lauren still wasn't responding, Jaime had never seen someone so still before. After what seemed like an age the ET checked Lauren's pulse again and shook his head.

'Charging.'

'Clear.'

Joey winced as the paddles were placed on her again and they shocked her. It felt like he was putting the last of his energy into hoping that she responded, that she gave them just a small sign that she was alive, they couldn't give up on her. Then, after another round of chest compressions.

'We have a pulse.'

Everyone as one breathed a sigh of relief. They'd come into this together and they were all getting out together. A gurney was brought in and after they had bandaged her head they lifted her onto it, it seemed the wound had started bleeding again so an ET kept pressure applied to it. An oxygen mask was placed over her mouth and nose, she had a pulse but she was in a bad way and Joey had a feeling that they were by no means out of the woods yet. He watched as they wheeled her out of the store, at least she was finally in safe hands now.

Joe watched as his friends were led out by more ET's. He tried listening to the ET who was talking to him. He was vaguely aware the ET was saying they were waiting for another gurney to take him out to the ambulance. He'd almost forgotten about his broken leg but suddenly pain shot through it and he winced. Lauren's heart had stopped. She had died, if only for a few moments but she had been clinically dead. And for him it had felt like a lifetime. It seemed like a million years ago that he had walked off the tour bus and across the forecourt.

Julia was leaning against a police car. When she had first been released they had taken her to hospital for a medical examination but after 2 hours of complaining that there was nothing wrong with her and demanding that they let her go back to the gas station they had finally discharged her, although must to her annoyance they had refused to discharge anyone else. After that she had hitched a lift back to the gas station with a police car that was heading back. The last few hours had been complete torture. She had felt relived as more of her friends came out but then 5pm had come and gone, she closed her eyes as the memory came floating back.

**4:58pm**

Julia paced up and down the diner the police had made their base for during the hostage situation. As she rounded the corner she looked up at the clock. It was almost 5pm and they hadn't made the phone call yet. She sighed impatiently and looked out of the window towards the gas station. Finally she turned to the James and the FBI agent who was in charge.

'Why haven't you made the phone call yet?'

She felt a shiver down her spine as she saw the two men exchange a look. Something had happened and Julia got a feeling they purposely hadn't told her what they were planning.

'We're not sending in anymore ransoms.'

Julia felt her stomach drop, they couldn't stop. Six of her best friends were still in there. Lauren, Meredith, Jaime, Brian, Joe and Joey were still in danger and their lives were still hanging in the balance. She rubbed her forehead and found she was breaking out in a cold sweat and there was spots appearing in her vision.

'You can't do this!

'I'm sorry but we have to take these hostage takers down and now is the best chance as with fewer hostages there is lesser risk of failure and fatality.'

The last word echoed around Julia's head. It seemed like they believed a successful attempt meant taking the gun men into custody and that was all that mattered. She stared at both of them and it angered her that neither of them had the guts to return her gaze because they knew that sending a SWAT team in was dangerous and yet they were still filling to do it. Suddenly it all became too much for Julia and she felt herself sinking into a chair. Tears slowly streamed down her face. They had the money to send in ransoms for all six of them but she knew that method could only last so long. She had overhead talk that the gun men may ask for safe transportation to another location and for that they still needed hostages. So a surprise attack would end it before it became complicated but it meant her friends would be in more danger than they had been all day.

**7pm**

Julia blinked as she saw people finally coming out of the store door. It was a team of ETs pushing a gurney across to a waiting ambulance. Even from a distance she could tell who was on the gurney. Lauren. Julia felt her breath quicken but before she was even half way towards the ambulance they had loaded Lauren into in and closed the doors. She watched as the sirens were turned on and the ambulance drove away with a police escort. What had happened? Now that the ambulance had gone she changed direction and walked towards the store door. She was almost there when the others came out, they were surrounded by officers and ETs but it was them. They were all okay. Julia fought her way through and then suddenly she was pulled into a tight hug by Jaime.

As Jaime held onto Julia she felt like she couldn't stand. She let out all the tears she had been holding in. She felt hands pushing them along but she closed her eyes and buried her head into Julia's shoulder. It was all over, they were finally free. There was a cool wind blowing and she already felt cold but she didn't care. It felt like they had been held for a thousand years. Suddenly she felt them stop and then more arms were around her. None of them said anything; they all just held each other. There was noise all around them. Jaime could hear sirens and someone talking into a loudhailer, what sounded like a helicopter flew over and she thought she could make out the noise of camera flashes going off but none of that mattered. In that moment the only thing in the world that mattered to Jaime was that hug on the forecourt of a gas station just outside Denver.

Finally the group pulled away and were led towards ambulances. Jaime was still gripping onto Julia's hand and she followed Meredith as they were directed over to an ambulance. She felt strange as it felt like everything was in slow motion, the shouting voices, the running figures. Finally they made it to the ambulance and were told to sit down. Jaime could barely concentrate on the ET as they examined her lip. She looked to the side and saw Meredith was having her broken fingers treated. Jaime winced; she was amazed Meredith hadn't spent the entire time screaming. Her fingers looked so bruised and swollen. It didn't feel like it was over, it felt like all this was a dream and that she was going to wake up and be back there. She looked up as the ambulance doors were slammed shut. Finally there was silence. There was just Julia and Meredith in her ambulance, the three girls held hands as the sirens were turned on and the ambulance began to move.

Meredith stared straight ahead as she swayed in motion with the ambulance. The pain in her fingers was finally settling down after the pain relief the ET had given her. It already felt like it had happened so long ago and yet every single second was still so vivid. She began to think of Lauren, she wondered if she had reached the hospital yet. There had been so much blood all Meredith could see was red, as the waves of emotions hit her she closed her eyes and tried to breathe deeply.

'Are you okay?'

The ET sounded so far away but after a moment she nodded. Everything humanly possible had been done to help Lauren so now they just had to hope and wait to hear news. She thought of Brian, he had been put into another ambulance with Joey, now that they had all made it out she promised herself that she would tell him how she really felt. All of a sudden she felt so tired as if, if she fell asleep now she would sleep for a thousand years. She rested her head against Julia's shoulder. The three didn't say a word to each other the whole journey, there was nothing to say, they had all been through their own nightmares and now wasn't the time to talk about them.

Finally Meredith felt the ambulance slowly down to a stop and then the ETs were opening the doors. There were medical staff waiting for them and they helped Meredith and Jaime into wheelchairs. She thought this was a little strange as she had a hand injury, not a leg one but she didn't say anything as they wheeled her into the ER. Once inside she was surrounded by all of her friends, she smiled at them slightly but all of this felt like a dream. She was finding it hard to go from what she had experience that day back to ordinary life, her whole view on life had been changed and it had opened her eyes to even the tiny mundane things of life, as now she was seeing everything and thinking she was lucky to be alive. They finally reached a cubicle and the nurse drew the curtain behind them.

Julia stood in the middle of the ER reception. She didn't know what to do. Most of the group had now been discharged; there were just some still being treated for shock. She needed to know where Lauren was, she needed to know she was all right. After a breath she looked down the corridor towards the double doors which led to the Intensive Care Unit, Julia knew she must be down there but she couldn't bring herself to walk down. She was staring so intently at the doors that she didn't hear someone walk up to her and jumped when they spoke.

'I'll walk down with you if you want.'

Dylan had been watching Julia stare at the doors for a few minutes before getting up and going over to her. He had watched as they had brought Lauren in, everyone had panicked as they had seen her. An ET had even been walking alongside the gurney performing constant chest compressions on her as they wheeled her into the ICU. The group had tried to follow but medical staff had held them back saying she needed to be stabilised but there was no one to stop them now. He smiled at Julia as she nodded and took her hand; she was shaking like a leaf. The walk to the doors seemed to take a lifetime but they eventually made it. Next to the trouble doors was a large window, which they stopped at.

He hadn't been prepared for what he would see. There were medical professionals surrounding her and hooking her up to all kinds of machines. He watched as a nurse opened Lauren's mouth and put a plastic tub into it, she taped it secure to Lauren's face before connecting it to a machine and turning it on.

'They're putting her on life support.'

Julia's voice was barely more than a whisper. Her whole body was shaking. Suddenly a nurse looked at them through the window and moved to pull the blinds shut. Julia's breath quickened, she had to see, she had to know Lauren was okay. She looked up as the door to the ICU opened and a doctor came out.

'Is she okay?'

'I think it'd be best if I talk to all of you.'

However he needn't have spoken for without Julia knowing everyone had followed them down the corridor and had been looking through the window too. Jaime and Brian had even somehow snuck away from their cubicle.

'Let's go into the relatives' room.'

Brian slowly followed the others. He had been given an ice pack for his swollen eye and had been quick to find his friends the second the nurse had left him alone. The ER was busy with the normal dealings of an ER but from some of the looks he received he knew they knew he wasn't during an everyday ER dealing. They all crammed into the relatives' room, all except for Joe, Joey and Meredith. He guessed seeing as those three had breaks and fractures it wasn't as easy for them to sneak away.

'We're prepping her for surgery. We don't believe she has any internal bleeding within the brain but she does have internal bleeding in her head and it is causing the internal pressure to become dangerously high and surgery is the only way to relive the pressure before it causes permanent damage.'

Brian slowly looked around at his friends. They were all staring in shock just like him. He felt like he should say something, to show he understood but he couldn't make his mind form any words. There were no words in existence he could use so he stayed quiet. Finally Jaime spoke.

'Will she be all right after that?'

'Well they're putting her into a medically induced coma to survive the surgery and then she'll be kept in the coma as that will aid the pressure relief and then it's out of our hands. If she maintains brain activity then she'll stand a good chance of pulling through.'

So even after all that there was still a chance they'd lose her? Brian couldn't take it in, he was kind of glad Joe wasn't here; he didn't need to hear this. He looked around the room trying to keep his breathing calm but he saw there were people breaking down. Julia had her head in hands and was shaking her head slowly. Brian stood up and walked over and hugged her, within seconds he felt more arms around him and then everyone was folded into the hug. He heard a beep and the doctor coughed.

'They're er, ready to take her up to surgery, you can walk her up if you want.

Jaime's breath caught as Lauren came into view. She had been changed into a hospital gown ready for the surgery. As the group came closer the doctors and nurses moved away from the trolley.

'You have a few minutes.'

The group gathered around. Jaime ended up near Lauren's hand and she automatically took it, at least it wasn't icy cold anymore. No one said anything; they all just stared at her. All too soon they were being pulled away and Lauren was being pushed towards an elevator. Jaime took a deep breath and turned as she felt a hand slip into hers.

Joey gave Jaime a week smile. He had finally been able to re-join his friends after the nurse was happy with the amount of cotton wads she had stuffed up his nose to stop the bleeding. He still felt a little woozy from the sedative he'd been given in the ambulance so they could reset his nose. He watched as the doors closed behind Lauren and then she was gone. After a few moments they all walked over to the elevators but they were stopped by a police officer.

'We've made contact with all your families. We'll notify you when they arrive.'

Joey nodded like the other; they all seemed to be in a daze. It didn't feel like it was over, none of this felt real. He hoped that once he saw his parents, things would finally have some sort of normality for him. It struck Joey that the reason they were all subdued was because they couldn't really celebrate their release yet, freedom would mean nothing if they had to leave one behind. He slowly walked into the elevator, too deep in his own thoughts to pay much attention to his surroundings.

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_A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And after all the short chapters I actually had to end it earlier than planned as it was getting too long! So I'll see you on Wednesday!_

_If you left a review I replied!_

_Wildwriter97: Oh my gosh! :') well I hope you didn't cry too much and all will be revealed!_

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_1katiemariee: You'll find out soon enough! And aww I cried when I wrote it :') and well it's Monday now!_

_Doctorpotter: Here it is!_

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_Paula: Argh! Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!_

_Starshipranger38: Haha I woke up super happy that it was Monday :D and glad you like it!_

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_Peaceful Sunrise: Yeah she'd okay and haha well it's Monday now! So you can find out!_

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_TearsOfaClown: Haha and all will be revealed!_

_La-dee-da: Haha here's the update!_


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Guys! It's Wednesday :o :') thank you so much to everyone who has read this along the way! :D_

_Doctorpotter: I know :'(_

_1katiemariee: Aww I'm sorry! :'( and here's the update!_

_Take a walk off my knife: Sorry! *gives cookie*_

_The Unlikely Suspect: Thank you! And there may or may not be Darren in this chapter…_

_Littlestarkiddie: Aww thank you! And oh my gosh that sounds awful :'( huggles! And here it is!_

_Paula: No! Stay alive! XD and its Wednesday now! Yay haha_

_Sami-sam99: Yeah! They all made it out :')_

_Guest: Bahaha thank you!_

_Azebra117: Haha I won't give it away so read the chapter hehe_

_Peaceful Sunrise: No cliffie this time :') and she's getting help!_

_Unfudgejourself3: Sorry haha well it's here now!_

_La-dee-da: Ahh!_

_Camoc: Thanks! And it's been so hard to write XD and for the medical stuff, for some reason I knew quite a bit but the internet was also my friend XD_

_Guest: Read this chapter! Haha_

_TearsOfaClown: I know! Feels! And I love the song so much haha and the version I have on my iPhone is from American Beauty so I think it's been used in a lot of films :') and bahaha XD thanks!_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Joe sighed angrily as the nurse refused yet again to let him leave.

'I'm sorry sir but we need to x-ray your leg.'

He didn't care about a stupid x-ray. All he cared about was making sure Lauren was okay. No one would tell him anything and this was making him panic. He also hadn't seen any of his friends since he had arrived. He knew Meredith was currently having her hand x-rayed but that was only because the nurse explained she was the cause of the hold up for his x-ray.

'I don't care about a stupid x-ray! I need to see my friends!'

'Joe, calm down.'

He saw the nurse breathe a sigh of relief as Brian popped his head around the curtain. However Joe wasn't relived to see his friend, his appearance just made him panic more.

'Brian where's Lauren.'

'Don't panic but they've taken her into surgery.'

Joe felt that saying 'don't panic' was the most pointless thing in the history of the world. He could tell Brian knew this as the instant he had said it he had looked away and was now fiddling with his ice pack. Joe tried to control his breathing but the shakes of his hands gave away how worried he was.

'Where is everyone else?'

'They've all gone up with her and are gonna sit it out on the corridor outside.'

Joe nodded, he had to be there but he knew the nurse wouldn't let him leave. He looked up as he saw Brian look behind him. Meredith was being taken back into a cubicle. He could tell Brian wanted to see her.

'Go see her.'

Brian looked back at Joe and swallowed. He wanted to see Meredith but he felt tongue tied. However as Joe gave him an encouraging nod he turned and slowly walked over to her. She didn't look up as him as he approached. She seemed transfixed by them strapping her three broken fingers together. As he watched his mind flashed back to that awful moment as he'd watched Mr Cat crush her fingers with his boot. The terrible scream she had let out would haunt him for the rest of his days, she had barely made a sound since that had happened and Brian was worried it may have had more of an effect on her than just three broken fingers.

'Are you okay?'

Meredith jumped as Brian spoke. She felt like she couldn't bring herself out of her own thoughts. As she looked at him he seemed blurred and she had to blink a few times before things became clearer. Finally, once she could see him properly she looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. She heart skipped a beat at the sight of his black eye, it looked sore and the swelling had caused his eye to almost close completely. After a few moments of staring at him she felt able to speak.

'I'm as okay as I could possibly be given the circumstances.'

She returned the smile Brian gave her. The nurse left the cubicle for a moment and she shuffled up as Brian moved to sit next to her on the bed. They sat side by side in silence for a while. Meredith wondered vaguely where the nurse had gone but the thought didn't stay in her mind for long, she felt so tired that she didn't even notice as Brian put his arm around her and once he had she automatically rested her head on his shoulder. Her stomach was still churning but having his reassuring arm around her finally made her relax a little.

'Is it really over?'

'Yeah it is.'

She didn't know why she asked it but it made her feel so much better hearing someone else say it. Without thinking she turned her head and nestled it against Brian's shoulder and wasn't surprised when her eyes began to feel heavy and she felt herself drifting off into a deep sleep.

Jaime was sitting against the wall with her arms wrapped around her legs. Lauren had been in surgery for an hour now. She looked up above the door at the lit sign that said the operating room was 'In Use Do Not Enter'. She sighed slightly, according to the doctors they still had another 4-5 hours to wait. As she breathed out her sides hurt slightly, her whole body was so tense that she was getting cramp. She rubbed her sides before resting her head on her knees. Everyone on the corridor was completely silent, as if they thought, if they were quiet enough they could hear what was happening inside the operating room but there was nothing. The door at the end of the corridor opened but she didn't bother looking to see who it was until she heard them speak.

'Is there any more news on her?'

Darren looked at his friends as they all stared back at him in shock. He knew they'd be surprised to see him but there hadn't been time to get a message to them to say he was coming. The only StarKid he'd managed to get a hold of was Denise who was currently on route from Chicago to Denver on the bus. He thought back to waking up this morning, he'd gotten up early as they were in the middle of filming Glee and he was meant to be at work today. Unusually he had turned on the TV whilst he ate his cereal and what he had seen, had made all thoughts of work go out of his head. He hadn't known how he had known but as soon as he'd seen the news footage he knew it was his friends. He had scrambled for his cell and called every one of them but the cells of every single one of his friends who was on the tour had either been switched off or rang and rang. His cell slipped out of his hand as he'd listened to the announcement that an injured hostage was being brought out and he'd watched with bated breath as Dylan and Joe had carried out a man. It was them, it was his friends. He'd had to do something.

Darren blinked and brought himself back into the real world. He had done something; he had done everything that was humanly possible to get his friends out and they were all out but why then did Darren feel like he had failed? He felt like he had failed Lauren. However there was nothing more he could have done. They'd secured the money but then all donations had been declined as the police were 'planning' something. The officer downstairs had said they'd gone in to rescue them but Lauren had already been injured. He looked around at his friends, of the six who had been in the store until the end there were only Joey and Jaime. He had to try and get it into his head what had happened.

'Joey, Jaime, what happened to Lauren?'

Joey couldn't bring himself to look at Darren as he couldn't bring himself to think up that thought. However it came against his will. He was back in the store, leaning against the shelf. From the front of the store he could hear Mr Wolf talking about how the police's time wasting had cost someone dearly. Then the phone had been slammed down and there was silence for a moment. Joey turned to look at Jaime and found she was staring back at him, her eyes wide and they'd grown wider as Mr Wolf had spoken again. Joey thought he must have heard Mr Wolf wrong but he realised he hadn't as Mr Dog walked past him and down the aisle towards Lauren. He hadn't seen anything after that, but he'd heard it. He'd heard the crash as she had hit the shelf and then the thump as she'd hit the floor. He'd heard Jaime and Meredith's screams and he had felt like everything was crashing down around him. However he couldn't bring himself to say these memories out loud, he looked around at his friends and opened and closed his mouth. It was then he felt Jaime's hand slip into his and she squeezed it.

'One of the gun men pulled her to her feet but then she pulled away from him and he lost his grip on her, and…and she fell.'

Jaime felt detached from her voice as she spoke. Saying it out loud made it seem less real, as if Jaime was merely telling a story. For the first time the horrible thought came into her head as to what Mr Wolf had intended to do with Lauren, was he going to kill her? Jaime shivered at the thought; she couldn't let herself think about that. It hadn't happened, Lauren was in a critical condition but she was alive. They hadn't gotten her and now she was getting the best possible help. However she felt a chill had set in deep within her at the thought of how close Lauren had been and still was to dying.

Julia watched Joey and Jaime and knew they wouldn't be getting any more information out of them. She couldn't begin to understand the torment they had been through, right now she couldn't see how any of them would get over this. She looked over at the door and imagined herself standing up and rushing through the door and into the operating room but of course she never did. The worse possible feeling was that she felt so close yet so far from her best friend. They were all here on this corridor and Lauren was in that room all alone. There was only so much the doctors could do for her. This made her ask the question she knew everyone was thinking.

'Guys, what do we…'

'Don't say it Julia.'

She didn't look as Jaime as she spoke because it had to be said. She could see the others looking very uncomfortable but Julia knew they all wanted to know.

'What if Lauren doesn't wake up?'

Meredith and Brian came through the doors at the end of the corridor just as Julia spoke. Her words echoed down the corridor. Meredith was still sleepy but her mind still went into full speed as she thought what Julia's words meant. However she couldn't think anymore as most of the group seemed to use her and Brian's entrance as an excuse to not think of the question. They all jumped up and came to hug them. Meredith was even surprised to see Darren and he smiled at her but the smiles were short lived as they all turned to look back down the corridor as the double doors at the other end opened and a surgeon entered the corridor at a run. He barely gave them a glance as he burst through the doors and into the operating room Lauren was in. Her breath stuttered, for in that moment they could hear something of what was happening in the room. There was a high pitched beeping and then a snippet of a conversation as someone within the room spoke to the newly arrived surgeon, 'she's bleeding out'. What did that mean? Was something going wrong? And then the door closed and there was silence again.

She felt herself shaking and then Brian's supporting arm was around her. The whole group slowly walked back towards the row of plastic chairs facing the doors. There were too many for the seats so some lent or sat against the wall. Lauren had to be okay, she couldn't die, she was too young to die. She looked up and listened as Darren played what sounded like a news video on his cell.

'The hostage situation that began early this morning at a gas station in Denver has been brought to a peaceful end with all 23 hostages being rescued. However a police spokesman said one hostage is currently being treated in hospital with a severe head injury that was sustained in the minutes before the rescue team went in. In the resulting shootout that was caused by the rescue team going in two of the hostage takers were killed. The two surviving hostage takers were taken into custody, including the one police suspect they spoke to during police negotiations, the other was a young man who police say gave himself up.'

Brian stopped listening after this. So Mr Wolf was still alive? The memory of that wolf mask being so close to his face before Mr Wolf knocked him out flashed through his mind. From the description of the other surviving gun men meant Mr Horse had survived too. It shocked Brian slightly that he was glad Mr Horse had survived, he didn't deserve to die. But now they had heard of the fates of the gun men there was nothing else to do but wait for news on Lauren. He thought about Joe, he was still down in the ER. Brian had had a word with the nurse to try and get her to delay Joe as much as possible. The waiting was almost unbearable for them so he knew it may just be too much for Joe. However his heart sank slightly as he saw Joe wheel himself in through the doors. Brian guessed the nurse couldn't hold him forever.

Joe stopped his wheelchair as he saw all his friends turn to look at him. They all looked so grave. He kept his head down as he wheeled himself forwards, the newly formed cast on his broken leg still felt strange but he didn't care about getting used to it. He nodded to them all and then sat in for the wait. They all sat in silence; it seemed everyone had run out of things to say. You could only make small talk for so long when one of your friends was fighting for her life. Joe just needed to see her and know that she was okay. They all waited as the hours ticked by, sometimes he'd look at the clock and it felt like time was flying but other times he'd look and it felt like the clock was almost going backwards. And then finally, the door opened and a gowned surgeon came out. Everyone held their breath as he pulled his mask down.

'The surgery's been a success. Although there were complications we've managed to stop the bleeding and relieve most of the pressure on her brain. We just need to hope she responds now.'

'What complications?'

'The internal bleeding was greater than we first thought but what matters is we were able to stop it.'

Joe readied himself as the surgeon stepped back and held the doors opened. However nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. Lauren's head was heavily bandaged and she still had the life support machine tube in her mouth. The colours seemed to have drained from her face. They went right past him as they pushed her down the corridor. It struck Joe that despite everything, all the machines and the bandages she still looked so beautiful and then in the next moment she was gone as they pushed her out of sight. He became aware that someone had step behind his wheelchair and was wheeling it in the direction they had taken Lauren, he noticed the others were all headed that way too.

'So still admiring from a distance I see Joe?'

He smiled slightly as he heard Darren speak from behind him. Was it really that obvious? He guessed it was and seeing as it seemed everyone knew, he guessed it was finally time to tell Lauren how he felt. They all walked in silence behind Lauren towards the recovery room. However as they drew near they stopped, as up ahead was a police officer and Lauren's parents. Joe felt like his heart was being pulled out as he saw her mom begin to sob, her dad held his wife but there were tears in his eyes too. They nodded at the others before heading into the room after Lauren.

'We should give them some time alone with her.'

Julia looked around as everyone nodded in agreement with her. There was a window through to Lauren hospital room and for a few moments she looked through it. She watched as Lauren's mom held hers daughter's hand, too emotional to say anything.

'Some of your relatives have arrived, I can show you to them if you're ready to leave.'

From the look of the officer's face Julia knew he was finding hard to speak. She looked back through the window, if her mom was here, she wanted to see her more than anything else in the world and she knew everyone would fell the same. However she felt bad for wanting to leave Lauren. As she watched her friend through the window she felt the tears bubbling up inside her. Lauren looked so peaceful, not at all like she'd just had hours of surgery. Her face was relaxed as if she was sleeping and nothing more.

'All we can do is wait now, wait until she's ready to wake up.'

Jaime felt so overwhelmed as she heard this. She'd thought waiting outside the operating room had been torture but now she saw the next few hours and days would be complete agony. Because it wasn't a question of when Lauren woke up, it was a question of if. Everything had been done to help her and now it was all down to Lauren. She sighed as she dragged her eyes away from Lauren and followed some of the others down the corridor.

Dylan lingered by the window for a few moments. They were waiting for her to respond now but until then the only thing keeping her alive was the life support machine. The doctors said it could take days before her organs began to function without medical assistance or it could never happen. There was still activity in her brain meaning the chances were good but right now her life was hanging on a thread which could so easily snap.

And so the waiting game began.

* * *

_A/N: Okay guys so we are coming to the end now :'( there may only be one chapter after this one._

_I hope you like this update!_


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Okay guys, so this is it! :'( I'm like crying right now and I'm in the ICT room and people are staring at me. Thank you so much to everyone who has read this over the past few weeks! I hope you like this last chapter!_

_Littlestarkiddie: Don't cry! Hugs! Here's the update!_

_xFlywithmeforever: Aww! Thank you so much! :') This made me so happy and you'll find out in this chapter!_

_1katiemariee: Aww haha that's good! :') Hope you like this!_

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_Paula: Yep :'( and yeah it made he made it better! And well I'm a little busy now :'(_

_Unfudgejourself3: You'll have to wait and see!_

_azebra117: I know! :'(_

_camoc: I'm sorry! But you wrote it better than how I was going to write it XD and sorry but this is the end :'(_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: Aww haha and yeeeaahhhh! :')_

_Guest: …best? XD_

_Guest: Aww thank you! And maybe I will…or maybe not haha_

_Im-just-peachy: Yay!_

_princessmag: Hehe :') and thank you! And that would be interesting :')_

_Peaceful Sunrise: And yeah haha :') and hopefully! :D_

_-Claw Jr: I'm sorry! And you find out about the concert in this :')_

_Megagirlxx: Aww thank you! And you are amazing for reviewing!_

_Doctorpotter: I know same! Writing this has been so hard and aww that would be sweet :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Aww haha and I'm sorry :'( and aww there'll be other fics! Love!_

_Guest: Haha and I hopefully will!_

_I do not own the characters, the Starkids own themselves. Any relationships hinted at are purely my imagination and I am not implying that they are feel._

_Okay guys, for the last time :'( here we go!_

* * *

'Hi Lauren, its Jaime. I just wanted to come and say hi. I'm good, although my bust lip still hurts. Everyone else is doing pretty good, we're just waiting for you. I'm sending all my positive healing vibes your way. I'm sorry I didn't do more in the store. Everyone keeps saying it's not my fault but I still feel responsible, I should have kept a closer eye on your pulse or tried to bandage your head wound or something. But there's no use worrying about it now.'

'Lolo, its Deeds. Well when I woke up at the beginning of this week I never expected to be getting on a bus to Colorado for an impromptu gate crashing of the Apocalyptour. Well, I guess there are a lot of things happened that we didn't expect to happen. Brian has started doing an hourly update on the Starkid twitter account and all the fans are so worried about you, but I know you're going to pull through this, because you have to.'

'Lopez, its Dylan. What are you doing still sleeping? We're got a tour to carry on! Well I guess reschedule. They've cancelled the rest of the tour because no one is in any fit state to carry on, not without the whole group together and besides it wouldn't feel right taking your parts out.'

'Come on Lauren, whose going to sing Granger Danger with me if you're not here? You're my song buddy. We all need you to wake up. Please.'

'I don't know if you can hear me but I like to think that you can. You can't leave me without a roommate Lo, whose going to be my partner in crime? None of us are ready to say goodbye.'

Julia walked down the corridor. However she stopped as she saw Joe. Everyone had gone down to get food but he'd stayed. She shouldn't have been surprised. Taking a deep breath she sat down next to him.

'Have you been in to see her yet?'

Julia noticed that Joe was paying particular attention to his trouser leg which was rolled up above his leg cast.

'I'm waiting for the right moment.'

She sighed and looked at the door they were sat in front of. Due to the circumstances they had been allowed to spend as much time as they wanted to at Lauren's bedside but Joe had yet to go in.

'Joe, you've been sat out for three days, if it hasn't been the right moment yet it never will be.'

She could almost see the cogs in his brain thinking over what she had said. She couldn't help but break into a smile as he nodded. Julia helped Joe up and then moved to hold open the door for him.

Joe nearly didn't make it through the doorway but forced himself to go on. Lauren was still unconscious and she was hooked up to so many different machines and even still, three days later the life support machine. The doctors had tried to take her off the life support yesterday but it hadn't gone well. She had shown all the signs that she was ready but when they had switched her to an oxygen machine she had almost suffocated as it seemed she hadn't been able to take that first unaided breath but they were going to try again tomorrow. The sound of the artificial breath as the machine breathed for her sounded so robotic and cold. The room was silent except for the constant hum and beeps of the machines.

He sat in the chair next to the bed and for a few moments watched the screen that was monitoring her heart rate. He slowly brought his eyes up to her face. The white bandages around her head stood out massively against her brown hair. Her face looked so clam and content. Joe could almost kid himself that she was just asleep. He'd heard the other says that they just sat and talked to her. But he didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything; he just sat there in silence. It felt nice to just be in her company.

Dylan came up with the others and was surprised to see Joe had gone. However as he looked from Julia to the door he quickly realised where he was. It seemed all the others had too as suddenly everyone was speeding over to the door.

'Guys! Don't all eavesdrop!'

No one listened to Julia as they all pushed past her and pressed their ears against the door.

'Can you hear what he's saying?'

Dylan strained his ear to hear but there was silence. Was Joe really just sat in there? He'd waited 3 days to go in and say nothing. He sighed and slowly moved away from the door.

'Well he's finally gone in the room, the next task is to get him to speak to her.'

Denise sighed after she spoke. She'd finally made it to be with her friends but she was so tired. The bus ride had been a killer and she'd barely slept since she'd arrived. They'd all booked rooms in the hotel across the street but no one had done much sleeping. She looked around at her friends. Joey's nose still looked bruised and he had white strips over the fracture. Jaime had matching white strips over the split on her bottom lip but at least the swelling had gone down. Brian's swelling had also gone down and he could open his eye now and then there was Meredith with her three fingers strapped together. They were all okay and even though everyone was so worried about Lauren for some reason Denise felt sure that Lauren was going to be okay. She tried explaining this to the others but it really seemed like they had lost hope. She knew she hadn't been there, she hadn't seen what they had seen but for some reason she just knew that everything was going to be okay.

Over an hour later Joe finally came out of the room. He was surprised to see all his friends were eagerly staring at him. However he felt he didn't want to share with them what he'd thought whilst in there. It had been a special moment and he wanted to treasure it. He decided to make an excuse so looked at the clock, he was happy to see it was 8pm.

'Well, it's late, I'm gonna go and get some sleep.'

'But it's only…'

Jaime stopped talking as Denise pushed her, she gave her a disgruntled look but then quickly realised that Joe was probably looking for a reason to get away from them. This thought was confirmed when she looked back at where he had been and saw he had gone, he really was fast on those crutches. Once he was gone her mind moved to thinking of Lauren, as it so often had over the past few days. Jaime felt nervous at the thought of tomorrow. Their last ray of hope lay with Lauren taking her first unaided breath tomorrow. She thought back to that awful moment yesterday when the first attempt hadn't worked and they had almost lost her again. If the same thing happened tomorrow, Jaime knew the relaxed atmosphere within the group would change and they'd take a downward spiral.

'What's up Jaime?'

She blinked and jumped as Julia spoke to her. She tried to say something but it was like putting the unthinkable into words so just shook her head at Julia. Even though Julia had mentioned that unspeakable thought during Lauren's operation they hadn't spoken anymore about it but with the anticipation of tomorrow she was finding she couldn't help but think of it. However she guessed she'd have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

It was finally the next morning and Meredith and the others were back at the hospital bright and early. There was a tension in the air and people weren't trying to hide their nervous expressions. She knew that people were fearing the worst. Two days ago they had been excited but now it seemed people were too scared to feel anything except worry. Meredith smiled weakly like the others as Lauren's mom came out into the corridor, she looked so tired and drained but there was a determined look in her eyes.

'They're ready to try again.'

It struck Meredith that they were lucky Lauren had a good sized room as with them all crammed in, it was standing room only. She noticed the doctor looked very pressured to have so many people watching him but it seemed he didn't dare say anything. The doctor gestured for quiet and there was immediately silence in the room. Meredith watched with bated breath as the doctor moved to the life support and switched it off. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of a high pitched warning beep but the doctor stayed calm and disconnected the tube.

Joe could feel his heart racing as the beeping continued. The doctor seemed to be taking so long. What was he doing? He watched as the doctor connected the tube to an oxygen canister. The beeping seemed so loud, it wasn't working, he looked at her heart rate monitor and saw it was dropping. But then, she took a breath, and then another and another. Her chest rose and fell with each one and he had never been so happy to hear someone breathing in his life. The heart rate monitor returned to normal and the warning beeping stopped. Joe breathed a sigh of relief and as he looked around he saw everyone else was doing the same. People were hugging each other and crying, they were one step closer to getting her back. He saw the doctor wipe his brow and smile.

'Everything's in place now, if you're ready, we can try and wake her up.'

Julia smiled as Lauren's parents nodded. She filed out with the others. Julia wasn't entirely sure how you woke someone up from a coma but she'd heard the doctors talking about some injection that would shock the body back into consciousness but she hadn't understood anymore. As they waited out on the corridor, for the first time since this whole thing had begun Julia felt ripples of excitement in her stomach, by the end of today Lauren could be awake and then it would be over. She knew the road back to full normality would be long and hard but they would all be able to start it together. They were all waiting again out in a corridor but this time there really was a light at the end of the tunnel. Julia smiled to herself as she thought this and settled herself in for the wait.

Dylan looked around at his friends and smiled. Everything was finally working out for them, the gun men hadn't won. For the first time he let his hopes up and it felt like a huge wait had been lifted from his mind. They were Team StarKid, they'd beat the odds and become internationally known for doing what they loved. He'd had never imagined that three years down the line from AVPM they would all still be together, having fun and being silly. They could do anything and they would bounce back from this even better than before.

Darren twiddled his thumbs as he waited. He was so grateful to the guys back at Glee, even though they were in the middle of shooting they'd given him emergency time off and said he could take as long as he needed. He knew he'd have to go back soon but he wanted to be here for when Lauren woke up because then he could finally go back home, knowing that all his friends were safe and sound. It struck him that this waiting felt like the waiting right before he went on and preformed. He was nervous but there was an element of excitement too. Darren had never been good at waiting for things but for some reason to hear the news that Lauren was okay he would be willing to wait a thousand years.

Jaime felt her breath catch as Lauren's parents came out into the corridor.

'They've done it, now we just need to wait. We need to go and make a few phone calls to tell people the news. Will you guys sit with her? The doctor said she could wake up at any time and we wouldn't want her to be alone.'

Jaime had jumped to her feet before they had even finished speaking and walked as quickly into the room as she could without seeming to impolite. The others all quickly followed. The life support tube had finally been taken out and now Lauren just had on an oxygen mask. Now that her mouth wasn't forced open by the tube Jaime felt almost calm as she looked at Lauren. There was calmness within the air; they were on the home straight now. She looked around the room and returned the smiles people gave her. For the first time she thought of the Apocalyptour. They had been having such fun and there was already talk about getting it back on track, once everyone was better because it wasn't just Lauren who was injured.

Now they had finally gotten to this moment Joe suddenly felt even more nervous. What if when she woke up she had changed? The doctors said she could make a full recovery but there was still a change of brain damage, they had been warned she might never be quite the same. It would be up to them to help her get normality back to her life. He looked at her for a few moments. Her breathing was soft and even, it seemed like she was still in a deep sleep even though they'd started the process to wake her up. He wondered how long it would take, Joe was quickly becoming impatient. He needed to see her deep brown eyes again, but it wouldn't be long now.

As they had sat down Julia had slipped her hand into Lauren's. Jaime had told her how during their last few moments in the gas station Lauren had squeezed her hand. It had given Julia hope that Lauren would be okay and every time she had come in to visit her she had slipped her hand into hers. She knew there had been little chance of her returning the squeeze but Julia felt that somehow it let Lauren know that she was there and that it would let Lauren know she wasn't alone. That's why all of them had spent so much time of the past few days simply talking to her, talking about anything and everything. They knew there was no real evidence that a person in a coma could hear what was going on in their surroundings but they had all agreed that somehow, she could hear them. So they had done everything, spoken about gossip, read her magazines, sang songs for her. Lauren probably wouldn't remember any of it but they were safe in the knowledge that she hadn't been alone. Julia had no idea what it was like to be in a coma but she guessed it must be very lonely.

She looked down at her friend. Suddenly she became aware of how long they had been sat here and still Lauren hadn't moved. Did it normally take this long? It looked like nothing had changed but she guessed the changes that were happening weren't on the outside. She sighed and rubbed Lauren's hand whilst staring into space.

Meredith had been staring intently at Lauren but had now turned away to look at Brian. He looked as worried as she felt. They had all come in thinking they were near the end but it had quickly turned into another long session of waiting. She knew it must be so hard for Lauren to come out of the coma, many people never resurfaced but all the stats said that Lauren stood a good chance of waking up, so why wasn't she? She moved out of the way as a nurse came into the room and began to check Lauren's vital signs. He opened one of her eyes and shone a flashlight into it for a few seconds before closing it.

'She's medically ready; it really is up to her now. Try talking to her again, she can probably hear you now.'

He made a few notes on the clip board that was hanging on the end of her bed before leaving the room. Meredith looked around at the others. Everyone seemed to have forgotten how to speak, as if the pressure of the fact that Lauren may be able to hear what they said had made everyone tongue-tied. She picked at the strapping on her fingers as she tried to think of something to say.

Brian carried on watching Meredith as she played with her hands. There was a heavy silence within the room. No one was making eye contact as they all tried to think of something to say. They couldn't just say anything, it had to be something special but no one seemed to have anything special to say. Whether it was the worry that they would speak and it wouldn't work Brian didn't know but he could feel the pressure rising in the room.

'Hey look! Forever 21 are having a sale!'

Well he had to say something and maybe hearing the name of her favourite store would cause her to wake up. It didn't, but as everyone giggled and snorted at what Brian had said he felt the pressure lifting and now it seemed more people were willing to speak now.

'Lauren, you all owe us big time for the amount of time we've spent on you.'

'There's a squirrel doing a tap dance outside! You really have to see this Lo!'

'They're giving away free food in the cafeteria.'

Joe laughed as everyone became more absurd in their sentences. They'd turned it into a game and it was bringing them all together and making them all laugh like they hadn't laughed in days. Joe however, still hadn't said anything, he didn't know what to say as everyone was being so imaginative.

'Come on Joe! Your turn!'

'Erm…I'm not good at stuff like this.'

However he didn't need to think of a sentence, for as soon as he spoke Lauren had stirred slightly. Her eyes were still closed but she had definitely moved. Everyone else had seen it too, meaning there was quickly silence within the room again.

'Joe say something else.'

'Erm…can you hear me Lo?'

Julia was staring intently at Joe. She couldn't believe he'd been the key; it made her feel all warm inside. She quickly looked back at Lauren as she felt her arm tense, she still hadn't opened her eyes but it felt like she was almost awake. And then suddenly, Julia felt something squeezing her hand. She slowly brought her eyes up to Lauren's face, although she could already hear people screaming. Her eyes finally reached her face and she was met by Lauren's sleepy brown eyes. They finally had their Lolo back.

* * *

_A/N: And that's it! :'( I go cry now and sing Days of Summer._

_I don't wanna see you go but it's not forever, not forever. Even if it was you know that I would never let it get me down, coz you're the part of me that makes me better where ever I go, so I will try not to cry, coz no one needs to say goodbye…._

_But what's this….something sequely this way comes….._


	17. Sequel News!

Hi guys! So this obviously isn't a chapter but I bring you good news! Tomorrow (13/11/2012) I will be posting the first chapter of the sequel! So look out for 'The Road Back' at some point tomorrow! I was going to leave it longer but tomorrow my English teacher was rude enough to cancel the lesson so I now have a four hour free so why not put the first chapter up! :')

I hope it does In A Heartbeat justice and isn't just a crummy sequel XD

And thank you too all you lovely people who reviewed after the final update of In A Heartbeat!

* * *

Unfudgejourself3: Haha squeal! And tomorrow!

Littlestarkiddie: Aww but I hope happy tears! And aww thank you! And I hope you like the sequel :')

sami-sam99: Thank you!

1katiemariee: Aww yay! And squirrel! XD And it's not over yet…

Obsessed31: There is I promise! :')

Silentdramaqueen01: Yay! Glad you liked it! And ahh haha well if it's any constellation, I once fangirled screamed in a busy train station XD

Thecocaptainofthefriendship: Aww thank you! And sorry about the cliff hangers! And glad you like it!

Natalie: I know! And yay for happy endings XD

azebra117: I couldn't not wake her up and epp! Bahaha XD

Abby: You're welcome! Thanks for reading!

Guest: Aww thank you! That is so sweet! And well the sequel starts tomorrow!

Acciostarkids: Don't say sorry! Thanks for reading! I should say sorry for making you cry! And aww! I still can't listen to Jaime's Not Alone…FEELS! XD

hogwarts2312: AHHHH XD

princessmag: :') I hope you like the sequel!

Peaceful Sunrise: Sorry! :'( and we can have a feel circle?

ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Argh! Hugs! Thank you! And you saying that means so much to me! Thank you! And well the sequel starts tomorrow and I may have another idea for a fanfic (who said that?!)

Doctorpotter: Yyyyyaaaaaaaayyyy :')

-Claw Jr: Yep! Epp!

rons-excited-owl: Well the sequel is coming!

Camoc: Ohh well I'm glad you liked it! :') And it's been great talking to you!

Starkidtheatregeek: YES!

Starkid fan 321: Aww :'( huggles! And yeah some awesome person has been posting the chapters on tumblr XD don't cry!

SingerWriterActressFanfics: I hope the sequel will live up to your expectations! And you're good! I hope your exam went okay!


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